Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities) Act 2011 (130 of 2011)

Schedule 1   Student services and amenities

Higher Education Support Act 2003

5   After section 19-37

Insert:

19-38 Higher education providers' expenditure of student services and amenities fees

(1) A higher education provider must not spend an amount paid to the provider as a*student services and amenities fee to support:

(a) a political party; or

(b) the election of a person as a member of:

(i) the legislature of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

(ii) a local government body.

(2) If a higher education provider pays a person or organisation an amount paid to the provider as a*student services and amenities fee, the provider must make the payment on the condition that none of the payment is to be spent by the person or organisation to support:

(a) a political party; or

(b) the election of a person as a member of:

(i) the legislature of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or

(ii) a local government body.

(3) A higher education provider must not spend, for a purpose other than that specified in subsection (4), an amount paid to the provider as a*student services and amenities fee.

(4) Subsection (3) does not prohibit expenditure for a purpose that relates to the provision of any of the following services:

(a) providing food or drink to students on a campus of the higher education provider;

(b) supporting a sporting or other recreational activity by students;

(c) supporting the administration of a club most of whose members are students;

(d) caring for children of students;

(e) providing legal services to students;

(f) promoting the health or welfare of students;

(g) helping students secure accommodation;

(h) helping students obtain employment or advice on careers;

(i) helping students with their financial affairs;

(j) helping students obtain insurance against personal accidents;

(k) supporting debating by students;

(l) providing libraries and reading rooms (other than those provided for academic purposes) for students;

(m) supporting an artistic activity by students;

(n) supporting the production and dissemination to students of media whose content is provided by students;

(o) helping students develop skills for study, by means other than undertaking*courses of study in which they are enrolled;

(p) advising on matters arising under the higher education provider's rules (however described);

(q) advocating students' interests in matters arising under the higher education provider's rules (however described);

(r) giving students information to help them in their orientation;

(s) helping meet the specific needs of *overseas students relating to their welfare, accommodation and employment.

Note: Examples of expenditure for a purpose that relates to the provision of a service specified in subsection (4) include:

(a) expenditure by the higher education provider in directly providing the service; and

(b) expenditure by the higher education provider in getting someone else to provide the service or subsidising the provision of the service by someone else; and

(c) expenditure by the higher education provider on infrastructure for the provision of the service.

(5) Without limiting who is a child of a person for the purposes of paragraph (4)(d), someone is the child of a person if he or she is a child of the person within the meaning of the Family Law Act 1975.

(6) To avoid doubt, subsections (1), (2) and (3) apply to an advance made to a higher education provider on account of *SA-HELP assistance in the same way as they apply to an amount paid to the provider as a *student services and amenities fee.

Note: An amount of SA-HELP assistance paid to a provider is an amount paid to the provider as a student services and amenities fee because, under section 128-1, the SA-HELP assistance is paid to discharge the student's liability to pay the fee.

(7) Subsection (6) does not limit subsection 164-10(2).

Note: Subsection 164-10(2) applies to an advance on account of an amount the conditions that would apply to payment of the amount.