Education and Training Reform Amendment (Funding of Non-Government Schools) Act 2015
Authorised Version
Education and Training Reform Amendment
(Funding of Non-Government Schools) Act 2015
No. 1 of 2015
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
1 Purpose 1
2 Commencement 1
3 Definitions 2
4 New Part 2.7 inserted 2
5 New Schedule 10 inserted 8
6 Repeal of amending Act 10
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Endnotes 11
1 General information 11
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Authorised Version
Education and Training Reform
Amendment (Funding of Non-
Government Schools) Act 2015†
No. 1 of 2015
[Assented to 10 March 2015]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
1 Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to amend the
Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to
establish a transparent mechanism for State
funding of non-Government schools.
2 Commencement
(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into
operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
Victoria
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(2) If a provision of this Act does not come into
operation before 23 December 2015, it comes into
operation on that day.
3 Definitions
In section 1.1.3(1) of the Education and
Training Reform Act 2006 insert the following
definitions—
"ISV means Independent Schools Victoria Inc., a
body incorporated under the Associations
Incorporation Reform Act 2012;
School Policy and Funding Advisory Council
means the advisory council established by
section 2.7.9;".
4 New Part 2.7 inserted
After Part 2.6 of the Education and Training
Reform Act 2006 insert—
"Part 2.7—State funding for
Non-Government schools
Division 1—Preliminary
2.7.1 Intent of Part
The intent of this Part is to establish a
transparent mechanism for State funding of
non-Government schools for the purpose of
meeting student needs.
Note
Non-Government schools are required to be registered under
Part 4.3 and must meet the prescribed minimum standards
for registration. One of the minimum standards for
registration is that a school must be a not-for-profit school.
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2.7.2 Government school recurrent funding
(1) For the purposes of this Part—
Government school recurrent funding
means funding provided by the State
out of money appropriated by
Parliament that directly supports the
teaching, learning and welfare of
students attending Government schools.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1),
Government school recurrent funding
includes—
(a) any funding specified in the regulations
to be Government school recurrent
funding for the purposes of this Part;
and
(b) any funding specified by the Minister to
be Government school recurrent
funding for the purposes of this Part,
after taking into account any advice of
the School Policy and Funding
Advisory Council.
(3) However, Government school recurrent
funding does not include any of the
following—
(a) funding for programs or initiatives
provided to both Government and non-
Government schools;
(b) early childhood development funding;
(c) higher education funding;
(d) funding provided to schools referred to
in Schedule 10;
(e) payroll tax;
(f) capital property items (such as capital
asset charges and depreciation);
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(g) any funding from the Commonwealth
passed on to Government schools by
the State;
(h) any funding specified in the regulations
not to be Government school recurrent
funding for the purposes of this Part;
(i) any funding specified by the Minister
not to be Government school recurrent
funding for the purposes of this Part,
after taking into account any advice of
the School Policy and Funding
Advisory Council.
Division 2—Funding for
non-Government schools
2.7.3 Minister may provide funding to non-
Government schools
The Minister may provide funding to non-
Government schools.
2.7.4 Minimum amount of funding for non-
Government schools
(1) The total amount of funding provided under
this Part for a calendar year must not be less
than the amount calculated in accordance
with the formula—
A 1 C
B 4
× ×
where—
A is the amount of Government school
recurrent funding for the financial year
commencing on 1 July in the previous
calendar year;
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B is the number of students enrolled in
Government schools (other than in a
school referred to in Schedule 10), as
counted in the Government school
census for the previous year;
C is the number of students enrolled in
non-Government schools, as counted in
the non-Government school census for
the previous year.
(2) In this section—
Government school census means the
Student Enrolment Census conducted
by the Department as part of the
February School Census Collection in
February each year;
non-Government school census means
information about non-Government
schools provided by approved
authorities in August each year under
section 77 of the Australian Education
Act 2013 of the Commonwealth.
2.7.5 Payment of funding
Any funding under this Part may be paid
directly to the non-Government school or to
an organisation (such as the Catholic
Education Commission or ISV) for the
benefit of the non-Government school.
2.7.6 Minister may have regard to needs of
schools and students
(1) The Minister may have regard to the needs
of non-Government schools and students
attending non-Government schools when
providing funding under this Part.
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(2) In having regard to the needs of non-
Government schools and students attending
non-Government schools, the Minister must
take into account any advice provided by the
School Policy and Funding Advisory
Council.
(3) Nothing in this Part requires the Minister to
provide the same amount of funding to each
non-Government school on a per student
basis, or to calculate the amount of funding
based on the same percentage per student for
each non-Government school.
2.7.7 Conditions of funding
(1) The Minister—
(a) may impose any reasonable conditions
on the provision of funding under this
Part; and
(b) may require a non-Government school
or an organisation referred to in
section 2.7.5 to enter an agreement
under section 5.2.11.
(2) In determining whether to impose a
condition, the Minister must take into
account any advice provided by the School
Policy and Funding Advisory Council.
2.7.8 Accountability and reporting
(1) The Minister may require a non-Government
school or an organisation referred to in
section 2.7.5 to which funding has been
provided under this Part to give the Minister
a report as to the application of the funding.
(2) In determining whether to request a report,
the Minister must take into account any
advice provided by the School Policy and
Funding Advisory Council.
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Division 3—School Policy and Funding
Advisory Council
2.7.9 Establishment
The School Policy and Funding Advisory
Council is established.
2.7.10 Function
The function of the School Policy and
Funding Advisory Council is to advise the
Minister about regulatory, policy and
funding issues that affect Government
schools and non-Government schools.
2.7.11 Membership
(1) The School Policy and Funding Advisory
Council consists of the following members,
appointed by the Minister—
(a) the Secretary of the Department, who is
to be the Chairperson of the Council;
(b) a representative of the Catholic
Education Commission;
(c) a representative of ISV;
(d) a representative of Government
schools, who is employed in the
Department.
(2) The Minister, from time to time, may appoint
any other person as a member of the School
Policy and Funding Advisory Council who,
in the Minister's opinion, has the necessary
expertise to contribute to its function.
2.7.12 Further provisions for School Policy and
Funding Advisory Council
The Minister, by Order, may make any
further provisions in relation to the School
Policy and Funding Advisory Council.
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Division 4—Review of Part
2.7.13 Review of Part
The Minister, in consultation with the School
Policy and Funding Advisory Council, must
review the operation of this Part in 2018.".
5 New Schedule 10 inserted
After Schedule 9 to the Education and Training
Reform Act 2006 insert—
"Schedule 10—schools excluded
from calculation of Government
school recurrent funding
Section 2.7.2
1 Specialist schools.
2 English language Government schools or
centres.
3 The following schools—
(a) Distance Education Centre Victoria;
(b) Parkville Youth Justice Centre;
(c) Victorian College of the Arts
Secondary School;
(d) Victorian School of Languages.
4 The deaf facilities attached to the following
schools—
(a) Brighton Primary School;
(b) Charles LaTrobe P-12 College;
(c) Eastwood Primary School;
(d) Forest Hill College;
(e) Forest Street Primary School;
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(f) Grovedale West Primary School;
(g) Guthrie Street Primary School;
(h) Kennington Primary School;
(i) Mount Erin Secondary College;
(j) Mount View Primary School;
(k) Pearcedale Primary School;
(l) Rosanna Golf Links Primary School;
(m) St Albans East Primary School;
(n) Shepparton High School;
(o) Sunshine College;
(p) Willmott Park Primary School.
5 In this Schedule—
English language Government school or
centre means a Government school that
offers students a full-time and intensive
English language program for a
minimum of 6 months and a maximum
of 12 months and includes a part of a
Government school that offers such a
program;
specialist school means—
(a) a school established for the main
purpose of providing instruction
for students with disabilities; or
(b) a school established for the main
purpose of providing instruction
for students with social, emotional
or behavioural difficulties.".
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6 Repeal of amending Act
This Act is repealed on 23 December 2016.
Note
The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of
the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the
Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
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Endnotes
Education and Training Reform Amendment (Funding of Non-Government
Schools) Act 2015
No. 1 of 2015
Endnotes
1 General information
See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current
authorised versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.
† Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Assembly: 11 February 2015
Legislative Council: 12 February 2015
The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the
Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to establish a transparent
mechanism for State funding of non-Government schools and for other
purposes."
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