Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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LONG SERVICE LEAVE (COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYEES) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2003 (NO. 1) 2003 NO. 348

The Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act 1976 (the Act) makes provision for long service leave in respect of Commonwealth employees and certain other persons. The Act provides for persons employed `in Government Service' to be granted long service leave or a payment in lieu where the period of service of the person is at least 10 years.

The Regulations amend the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Regulations 1957 (the Principal Regulations) to provide that the previous service of employees transferred from the Enterprise and Career Education Foundation Limited (ECEF) to the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) is recognised as prior service for the purposes of the Act.

Section 11 of the Act provides that the period of service of an employee is the period during which he or she has been employed continuously in Government Service. A person is taken to be employed in Government Service if the person is employed by the Commonwealth.

In addition, subsection 7(2) of the Act allows the regulations to provide that previous employment of an employee in the service of a body referred to in the regulations shall be taken to be employment in Government Service. Paragraph 7(3)(c) of the Act provides that the regulations may be expressed to have effect in respect only of employment on or after a particular date, before a particular date or during a particular period.

Section 26 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which are required or permitted to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to be subscribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

ECEF is an Australian public company limited by guarantee of which the Commonwealth is the sole shareholder. It was established in January 2001 to assist young people achieve the transition from school to further education, training and employment. The Government announced in the 2003-4 Budget that the functions performed by ECEF would be transferred to DEST. ECEF's eight staff were transferred to DEST on 1 October 2003 under section 72 of the Public Service Act 1999.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

The Regulations commence on gazettal.

ATTACHMENT

Regulation 1 sets out the name of the regulations.

Regulation 2 provides for the commencement of the regulations on gazettal.

Regulation 3 provides that the Long Service Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Regulations 1957 (the Principal Regulations) are amended by Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 -- Amendments

Item 1

Regulation 8 of the Principal Regulations provides that the previous employment of an employee in the service of a person, authority, institution or body that is referred to in Schedule 2 shall be taken into account for the purposes of the Act as if it had been employment in Government Service.

Item 1 inserts a new item 78 in Schedule 2 to the Principal Regulations. New item 78 includes the Enterprise and Career Education Foundation Limited as a body with which previous service counts as Government Service for the purposes of the Act. This recognition of previous service applies only to those employees who were transferred to the Department of Education, Science and Training on 1 October 2003.