Senate

Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Education, Science and Training the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP)

Outline, financial impact and notes on amendments

Outline

The Bill as introduced amended the Higher Education Funding Act 1988 and the Australian Research Council Act 2001 (ARCA).

Item 15 of Schedule 2 to the Bill as introduced inserts a new subsection 50(1A) in the ARCA which has the effect of providing that the Minister may specify in a determination under subsection 50(1) [dealing with the division of funding caps between different categories of research programs] proportions in a specified range for each of two or more categories of research programs set out in the determination.

These amendments will limit the range the Minister may specify for each of two or more categories of research programs set out in the determination to a maximum of 5% above or below a specified single percentage of the funding cap.

Financial impact

These amendments will not cause any direct financial impacts.

Notes on amendments

Amendment (1)

Amends new subsection 50(1A) to be inserted by Item 15 of Schedule 2 to the Bill by providing that the range of proportions of categories of research programs the Minister may specify in a determination under subsection 50(1) is not more than 5% above or below a specified single percentage of the funding cap (the specified percentage ).

For example the maximum permissible funding split range the Minister could determine for research program category X with a specified percentage of 50% of available appropriations, would be 45%-55%. A determination such as 44%-56% for category X would not be permitted.