1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Child Care Act 1972.
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This Act may be cited as the Child Care Act 1972.
This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
ACNC type of entity means an entity that meets the description of a type of entity in column 1 of the table in subsection 25‑5(5) of the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission Act 2012.
body includes an association and society.
building includes a part of a building and an addition to a building and, in Part VI, includes any other improvement on land.
child care means the care of children at a time or times when they are not being cared for in their own homes or in the homes of other persons.
child care centre has the meaning given by section 4A.
Child Care Standards Committee means the committee established under section 14.
eligible child care centre has the meaning given by section 4B.
family assistance law means any one or more of the following:
the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999;
the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999;
any instrument (including regulations) made under the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 or the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999.
home does not include an orphanage or like institution.
information includes estimates.
officer means a person performing duties, or exercising powers or functions, under or in relation to this Act and, in relation to a provision of Part IIIA, includes:
a person who has been such a person; and
a person who is or has been appointed or employed by the Commonwealth and who, as a result of that appointment or employment, may acquire or has acquired information about a person under this Act; and
a person who, although not appointed or employed by the Commonwealth, performs or performed services for the Commonwealth and who, as a result of performing those services, may acquire or has acquired information about a person under this Act.
operator, in relation to an eligible child care centre, means the person or body operating, or proposing to operate, the centre.
place includes a proposed place.
protected information means:
information about a person or a child care service that is or was held in the records of the Department; or
information that there is no information about a person or a child care service held in such records.
For the purposes of this Act, a thing is taken to be done or required for a permitted purpose if it is done or required:
for the purposes of this Act; or
for the purposes of a family assistance law;
Subject to subsection (2), a child care centre is a place:
that provides, or proposes to provide, child care for children:
all of whom are residing in their own homes; and
all or the majority of whom are of pre‑school age; and
all or the majority of whom attend the place on a regular basis; and
in relation to which either of the following subparagraphs applies:
the place provides, or proposes to provide, that child care:
for not less than 8 hours on each normal working day; and
on all normal working days in not less than 48 weeks in the year;
the place is a place that the Minister determines should be treated as a child care centre for the purposes of this Act.
For the purposes of Part IVA, a place is a child care centre whether or not all or the majority of the children for whom child care is provided at the place attend the place on a regular basis.
For the purposes of this Act, a child care centre is an eligible child care centre if:
the centre is operated, or proposed to be operated, by an entity that meets the requirements of columns 1 and (if applicable) 2 of an item of the following table; and
the Minister determines that the centre is an eligible child care centre for the purposes of this Act:
Entities that operate eligible child care centres | ||
|---|---|---|
Item | Column 1 The entity is … | Column 2 |
1 | a body corporate that is registered under the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission Act 2012 | not applicable |
2 | a body corporate that is not an ACNC type of entity | the body corporate is: (a) not carried on for the purpose of profit or gain; and (b) not a Commonwealth, State or Territory authority |
3 | the trustee of a trust that is registered under the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission Act 2012 | not applicable |
4 | the trustee of a trust that is not an ACNC type of entity | the trust is established by an entity that meets the requirements of item 1, 2, 3, 7 or 8 |
5 | an unincorporated body that is registered under the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission Act 2012 | the unincorporated body is approved by the Minister for the purposes of this item |
6 | an unincorporated body that is not an ACNC type of entity | the unincorporated body is: (a) not carried on for the purpose of profit or gain; and (b) approved by the Minister for the purposes of this item |
7 | the Australian Capital Territory | not applicable |
8 | a local governing body established by or under State or Territory law | not applicable |
The Minister may, by legislative instrument, make guidelines with respect to the exercise of the Minister’s powers under section 4B.
In this Division, unless the contrary intention appears:
alteration, in relation to a building or other improvement on land, includes an addition to the building or improvement.
approved project means the purchase or proposed purchase of land, or the construction or alteration or proposed construction or alteration of a building or other improvement on land, approved under section 6.
capital cost, in relation to an approved project, means:
where the approved project is the purchase or proposed purchase of land, the sum of:
such amount in respect of the land, not including any buildings or other improvements on the land, as the Minister determines;
such amount in respect of any buildings or other improvements on the land (being buildings or improvements that the Minister is satisfied are used, or are to be used, for or in connexion with an eligible child care centre) as the Minister considers represents that part of the cost of purchasing the land that is attributable to those buildings or improvements; and
such amount as the Minister is satisfied is the cost of making any alterations to any building or other improvements on the land that the Minister is satisfied are necessary for or in connexion with the provision of an eligible child care centre; or
where the approved project is the construction or alteration of a building or other improvement on land, such amount as the Minister is satisfied is the cost of constructing or altering the building or other improvement.
For the purposes of this Division, the cost of constructing, altering or adding to a building includes the cost of installing such fixtures (including the cost of the fixtures) as the Minister approves.
Subject to this section, where the Minister is satisfied that:
the operator of an eligible child care centre:
has purchased, or proposes to purchase, any land, including land on which buildings or other improvements are constructed; or
has constructed or altered, or proposes to construct or alter, a building or any other improvement on any land; and
the land purchased or proposed to be purchased, or the building or improvement constructed or altered or proposed to be constructed or altered, is used, or is to be used, permanently by the operator in relation to the centre;
the Minister may approve, for the purposes of this Division, the purchase or proposed purchase or the construction or alteration or the proposed construction or alteration, as the case may be.
The Minister may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, approve the making of a grant to the operator of an eligible child care centre of an amount not exceeding the capital cost of an approved project.
In this Division, unless the contrary intention appears:
acquisition includes acquisition by way of exchange or purchase or by way of taking on lease, on hire, on hire‑purchase or on lease and purchase.
approved equipment means equipment approved under section 9 or equipment included in a class of equipment approved under that section.
cost, in relation to the acquisition by the operator of an eligible child care centre of approved equipment, means the sum of the amounts that the Minister is satisfied is the cost of acquiring the equipment and such amount (if any) in respect of altering, adding to or installing the equipment as the Minister determines.
The Minister may approve equipment or classes of equipment for the purposes of this Division.
The Minister may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, approve the making of a grant to the operator of an eligible child care centre of an amount not exceeding the cost of the acquisition by the operator of approved equipment.
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