Commonwealth of Australia
Higher Education Support Act 2003
Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1
Amendments to Guidelines made under section 238-10 of the
Higher Education Support Act 2003
I, Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations pursuant to section 238-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (‘the Act’), make the attached amendment to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1, which provide for matters under Part 2-2 and section 93‑10 of the Act.
Dated this 28th day of November 2011.
Signed
______________________________
CHRIS EVANS
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Higher Education Support Act 2003
Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1
Amendment No. 11
(i) CITATION
This legislative instrument may be cited as Amendment No. 11 to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1
(ii) AUTHORITY
This legislative instrument is made under section 238-10 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (the Act) to give effect to matters set out in Part 2-2 and section 93-10 of the Act.
(iii) DATE OF EFFECT
These Guidelines will come into effect on 1 January 2012.
(iv) AMENDMENT
This legislative instrument amends the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No.1 which was registered on 12 December 2006 and which commenced on 13 December 2006.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this amendment is to amend Chapter 1 of the Commonwealth Grant Scheme Guidelines No. 1 to add a number of definitions, and to delete Chapter 4 Regional Loading in its entirety and substitute it with new Chapter 4 Regional Loading.
ITEM 1
Insert new section 1.5 - Definitions after section 1.1 - Interpretation:
1.5 DEFINITIONS
1.5.1 In these Guidelines, unless the contrary intention appears:
ASGC Remoteness Structure means the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Structure published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
ASGS means the Australian Statistical Geography Standard which will progressively replace the ASGC from July 2011
campus based on HEIMS Student Data Collection glossary, campus means the physical location from where a provider delivers a unit of study. This location may or may not be owned by the provider which enrols the student. For external courses this is the physical location from where the unit of study is administered
Department or DEEWR means the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
external based on HEIMS Student Data Collection glossary, external means a mode of attendance for a unit of study whereby the provider delivers the course materials to the student and the student is not required to attend classes on campus on a regular basis
headquarters is a provider’s campus location which has the largest internal and multi-modal EFTSL of Commonwealth supported students
HESDC means Higher Education Student Data Collection
HEIMS means the Higher Education Information Management System
internal based on HEIMS Student Data Collection glossary, internal means a mode of attendance for a unit of study whereby the student must attend classes at the provider’s facilities on a regular basis
multi-modal based on HEIMS Student Data Collection glossary,
multi-modal means a mode of attendance for a unit of study that is undertaken partially in an internal mode of attendance and partially in an external mode
provider means Higher Education Provider
1.5.5 Any reference to a part, division or section of the Act is a reference to that part, division or section as in force from time to time.
1.5.10 Terms used in Chapter 4 of these Guidelines that are in italics have the meaning as stated in paragraph 1.5.1 of these Guidelines.
ITEM 2
Delete Chapter 4 and substitute:
CHAPTER 4 REGIONAL LOADING
4.1 PURPOSE
4.1.1 The purpose of this chapter is to specify how the amount of regional loading for Commonwealth supported places under section 33-1(1)(b)(i) of the Act will be distributed from 2012.
4.5 OBJECTIVE OF REGIONAL LOADING
4.5.1 Regional loading provides additional funding under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) to help providers offset the disparity in costs and revenue of regional campuses in comparison with major city campuses.
4.10 AMOUNT OF REGIONAL LOADING FROM 2012
4.10.1 Regional loading payments to eligible providers are made in respect of a calendar year.
4.10.5 The total amount of regional loading available in each year is fixed. In the 2012 calendar year, the total amount of regional loading is $63,559,565. The total amount of regional loading in later years is the total amount of regional loading in 2012 indexed in accordance with the method set out in Part 5-6 of the Act.
4.15 ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF REGIONAL LOADING
4.15.1 A provider will be eligible for regional loading if:
(a) It is a Table A or Table B provider under section 16-15 of the Act;
(b) a campus’s average student load is a minimum of fifty (50) internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student EFTSL.
4.15.5 For the purposes of regional loading, CGS enrolments at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education will be considered as CGS enrolments at Charles Darwin University.
Average student load
4.15.10 The regional loading distribution for each eligible provider will be based on the most recent Commonwealth supported student load data submitted to the Department by providers as part of the HESDC.
4.15.15 The average student load for purposes of distributing regional loading is the EFTSL of the Commonwealth supported student load averaged over the most recent three years for which HESDC full year student load data is available.
4.15.20 The calculation of average student load will be updated annually as new HESDC full year student load data becomes available.
4.20 REGIONAL LOADING REMOTENESS CATEGORIES
4.20.1 The regional loading distributed to a multi campus provider may vary between the provider’s campuses depending upon the remoteness classification of each of the provider’s eligible campuses.
4.20.5 An eligible campus’s remoteness classification will be determined using the ASGC Remoteness Structure until it is replaced by ASGS, to classify the remoteness of the physical address of the eligible campus’s actual location.
4.20.10 The loading (L) for the remoteness categories is as follows:
Remoteness Structure
Loading (L)
Remote and very remote
20%
Darwin region
15%
Outer regional
10%
Inner regional
5%
Major city and overseas
0%
4.20.15 For purposes of regional loading, the Darwin region is defined as the area of the Northern Territory that is not remote or very remote.
4.20.20 For purposes of regional loading, the Darwin region has been classified outside of the ASGC Remoteness Structure and its replacement, the ASGS, as the additional costs of higher education provision in this region exceed its ASGC remoteness category which is outer regional.
4.25 NEW REGIONAL LOADING DISTRIBUTION FORMULA
4.25.1 From 2012, the regional loading distribution for eligible providers will be calculated using the following formula:
Where:
= the regional loading for a provider (p)
= the loading for the location of a provider’s eligible campus(c) based on the ASGC Remoteness Structure or its replacement, the ASGS
= the average student load based on the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load enrolled at the relevant eligible campus (c)
= the loading for the location of a provider’s headquarters (h) campus based on the ASGC Remoteness Structure or its replacement, the ASGS
= the average student load based on the EFTSL of a provider’s (p) external Commonwealth supported student load
= the variation required to ensure the expenditure is within the regional loading approved for that calendar year.
4.25.5 The distribution formula has two components. The first is based on the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load of each of a provider’s eligible campuses. The second is based on the provider’s external Commonwealth supported student load.
4.25.10 The regional loading funding for the first component of the distribution formula for a provider is calculated by multiplying the average student load (based on the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load) for each eligible campus by the remoteness loading (L) for the physical location of that eligible campus. The totals for each of a provider’s eligible campuses are added together to calculate the funding for the provider for the first component of the formula.
4.25.15 The regional loading funding for the second component of the distribution formula for a provider is calculated by multiplying 50 per cent of the average student load based on a provider’s external Commonwealth supported student load by the remoteness loading for the provider’s headquarters campus. The headquarters campus is the campus that has the highest average student load based on the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load.
4.25.20 As stated in section 4.10.5 above the regional loading funding is a capped amount for each calendar year. To ensure that the regional loading distributed in a calendar year does not exceed the regional loading funding approved for that year, the following process is used to adjust the final amount of regional loading to be paid to each provider in a calendar year:
a) Initially the preliminary funding for each provider is calculated using the regional loading formula at section 4.25.1, above allowing.
b) Then the preliminary funding amount for each provider is added to determine the interim regional loading total ().
c) To establish the value of the variation () for determining the final distribution, the regional loading funding for the calendar year less any transitional support payment () is divided by the interim regional loading total ().
d) To calculate the final amount of regional loading for each provider for the calendar year the formula in section 4.25.1 is reapplied using the value for as determined in (c) above.
4.30 TRANSITIONAL SUPPORT IN 2012 AND 2013 FOR PROVIDERS AFFECTED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW REGIONAL LOADING FORMULA
4.30.1 In 2012 and 2013 the Department will make transition payments from the regional loading funding approved for those calendar years to providers who experience a significant reduction in regional loading funding as a result of the introduction of the new regional loading distribution formula.
4.30.5 As the regional loading funding is a capped amount for a calendar year, the regional loading to be distributed to eligible providers in 2012 and 2013 calendar years will be adjusted to enable the making of the transition payments.
4.30.10 For the purposes of receiving a transition payment, a provider who experiences a significant reduction in regional loading under the new distribution formula is a provider:
i) who received regional loading in 2011; and
ii) whose estimated regional loading for the 2012 and 2013 calendar years based on the application of the distribution formula at section 4.25.1 will be at least $500,000 less per calendar year than the regional loading received by that provider in 2011.
4.30.15 In 2012, the transition payment to be made to each affected provider will be up to 50 per cent of the difference between the amount of regional loading an affected provider received in 2011 and the amount of regional loading that the provider would receive under the new distribution formula in 2012.
4.30.20 In 2013, the Department will make provision for a further transition payment to be made from the 2013 regional loading funding to those providers that received a transition payment under section 4.30.15 in 2012.
4.30.25 In 2013, the transition payments to affected providers will be made of up to 25 per cent of the difference between the regional loading an affected provider received in 2011 and the amount of regional loading that the provider would receive under the new distribution formula in 2013.
4.30.30 The exact amounts of the transition payments to be made to affected providers will be as agreed in the funding agreements with providers under section 30-25 of the Act.
4.30.35 The payment of transition payments to affected providers in 2012 and 2013 will be in addition to any regional loading funding that an affected provider will receive on the basis of the new regional loading distribution formula.
4.35 DISTRIBUTION OF REGIONAL LOADING TO RECENTLY ESTABLISHED CAMPUSES
4.35.1 As stated in section 4.15.15 the distribution of regional loading is based on the EFTSL of the Commonwealth supported student load averaged over the most recent three years for which HESDC full year student load data is available.
4.35.5 Where the available HESDC full year student load data for a recently established campus is for less than three years the average student load will be determined on the basis of the EFTSL of the Commonwealth supported student load for the number of years for which the data is available.
4.35.10 In these circumstances a campus of a provider may be considered for eligible campus status on the basis of averaging the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load for the number of years for which the HESDC full year student load data is available. Where this occurs, the campus must have an average internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load of at least 50 EFTSL.
