Victorian Bills Explanatory Memoranda

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MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY (VICTORIAN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS) BILL 2006

 Melbourne University (Victorian College of the
                 Arts) Bill

                         Introduction Print

               EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM


                                  General
The Bill will integrate the Victorian College of the Arts with the University
of Melbourne and follows changes to Commonwealth funding arrangements
and the signing of a Heads of Agreement by the two parties.

                               Clause Notes
Clause 1    sets out the purposes of the Bill, which are to integrate the
            Victorian College of the Arts ("the College") with the University
            of Melbourne ("the University") and establish a faculty of the
            University called the "Faculty of the Victorian College of the
            Arts".

Clause 2    provides for Part 1 of the Bill (Preliminary) to come into
            operation on the day after the Bill receives Royal Assent and the
            remaining provisions to come into operation on 1 January 2007.

Clause 3    defines the terms "award course", "the College" and "the
            University".

Clause 4    provides that, on 1 January 2007--
              ·      the College is abolished;
              ·      members of the Council, the President and Deputy
                     President of the College go out of office;
              ·      any Council committees are abolished and committee
                     members go out of office; and
              ·      the Board of Studies of the College is abolished and its
                     members go out of office.




                                      1
551464                                       BILL LA INTRODUCTION 13/6/2006

 


 

Clause 5 provides that on and from 1 January 2007-- · the University will become the successor in law of the College; · the assets, rights, liabilities and obligations of the College will be transferred to the University; · any scholarship, prize or bursary of the College will be administered by the University in accordance with its original terms and conditions; · instruments (such as contracts) and legal proceedings by, against or in relation to the College will be treated as if they were by, against or in relation to the University; · any permit, licence or authority issued to the College will continue in favour of the University; · any reference to the College in an Act, subordinate instrument, judgment or other document will be deemed to be a reference to the University unless the contrary intention appears; and · all records and documents of the College will become the property of the University. Clause 6 provides for gifts, trusts and dispositions made in favour of the College to have effect as if they were made in favour of the University for a corresponding purpose. Clause 7 transfers the staff of the College to the staff of the University on terms and conditions that are in aggregate no less favourable than those that they currently receive. The clause ensures that their services will be regarded as continuous and any accrued entitlements will remain. The clause also provides that staff of the College who are members of superannuation schemes under the State Superannuation Act 1988 will maintain their right to membership. 2

 


 

Clause 8 transfers non-award students of the College to the University. Award students of the College are already students of the University pursuant to section 20 of the Victorian College of the Arts (Amendment) Act 1991 which states "On 1 July 1991, a person who, immediately before that date, was a student of the College enrolled in a course which on or after that date is an award course, becomes a student of the University". The clause also allows a person who was entitled to enrol at the College immediately before 1 January 2007 to apply for enrolment in a similar course of study at the University. This is intended to cover people who are not yet students but who have previously been offered a place in a course at the College. The clause allows the Council of the University to make statutes or regulations to enable the Council to grant to a non-award student of the College who becomes a student of the University a diploma, certificate or other award to which the student was entitled under the name "Victorian College of the Arts". The clause extends the power of the Council of the University under section 19 of the Melbourne University Act 1958 (Power of Council to Grant Degrees) to granting any diploma, certificate or other award to a non-award student of the College who becomes a student of the University. The clause also entitles people who hold awards of the College to the same benefits and privileges at the University as are enjoyed by people who hold the same awards at the University. The clause provides that the University must grant a diploma, certificate or other award that has not been granted by the College before 1 January 2007 to a person entitled to it. Clause 9 provides for the statutes and regulations of the College to continue to have effect as if they were made by the University provided that they are not inconsistent with the statutes and regulations of the University. The clause also provides that those statutes and regulations of the College that remain in force may be amended or revoked by the same processes in place for statutes and regulations of the University (refer to section 31 of the Melbourne University Act 1958). Clause 10 is a general deeming provision relating to the power of the College to act as required for the purposes of the integration with the University. 3

 


 

Clause 11 repeals the Victorian College of the Arts Act 1981. As the College's constituting Act, it will no longer be required once the integration with the University takes effect. Clause 12 inserts new section 29A in the Melbourne University Act 1958 which establishes a faculty of the University called the "Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts". This is notwithstanding section 29(1)(a) of the Melbourne University Act 1958 which provides for faculties to be established by statutes of the University. This will ensure that the new faculty can only be abolished through an amendment to the Act. New section 29A provides that the faculty shall have the powers, duties and membership specified by a statute of the University, the first of which must be made within 6 months of the commencement of this Act. The new section also specifies the objects of the faculty. These are the same as the current objects of the College as specified in section 5 of the Victorian College of the Arts Act 1981 with minor amendments to remove references to functions which will be carried out by the University, such as the conferral of awards. 4

 


 

 


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