Community Welfare Act 1987

This Act may be cited as the Community Welfare Act 1987.

Except as provided by subsections (2) and (3), this Act shall commence on the date of assent to this Act.

Sections 14, 15 and 16 shall commence on such day or days as may be appointed by the Governor and notified by proclamation published in the Gazette.

Part 6 shall commence on such day as may be appointed by the Governor and notified by proclamation published in the Gazette.

In this Act, except in so far as the context or subject-matter otherwise indicates or requires—

approved non-Government organisation means a corporation, society, association or other body of persons, not being the Crown, approved by the Minister for the purposes of this Act.

child means a person who is under the age of 18 years.

committee means an advisory committee referred to in section 17.

Community Disaster Relief Fund means the fund referred to in section 39.

Community Welfare Fund means the fund referred to in section 12.

community welfare legislation means—

this Act and any other Act administered by the Minister within the Department, and

any instrument under this Act or any other such Act,

Department means the Department of Family and Community Services.

disabled person means an intellectually disabled person or a physically disabled person.

employee means a person employed in the Department.

facility, in relation to any provision of the community welfare legislation, means any premises the subject of an order in force under section 3A (1) in respect of that provision.

intellectual impairment, in relation to a person, means any defect or disturbance in the normal structure and functioning of the person’s brain, whether arising from a condition subsisting at birth or from illness or injury.

intellectually disabled person includes a person who, as a result of disabilities arising from intellectual impairment, is substantially limited in one or more major life activities.

physical impairment, in relation to a person, means any defect or disturbance in the normal structure and functioning of the person’s body, whether arising from a condition subsisting at birth or from illness or injury, but does not include intellectual impairment.

physically disabled person includes a person who, as a result of having a physical impairment to his or her body, and having regard to any community attitudes relating to persons having the same physical impairment as that person and to the physical environment, is limited in his or her opportunities to enjoy a full and active life.

regulation means a regulation made under this Act.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Department.

In this Act—

a reference to a function includes a reference to a power, authority and duty, and

a reference to the exercise of a function includes, where the function is a duty, a reference to the performance of the duty.

The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, declare any premises specified or described in the order to be a facility—

for the purposes of the community welfare legislation generally, or

for the purposes of any specified provision of the community welfare legislation.

Editorial note—

Order published in Gazette No 8 of 15.1.1988, p 223 and amended in Gazette No 78 of 23.6.1989, p 3653. From April 2021, PCO is no longer updating notes in provisions of in force titles about related gazette notices. To search for related gazette notices, please use the Gazette Search functionality.

The Minister may, by the order by which any premises are declared to be a facility or by any subsequent order published in the Gazette, give a name to the facility.

An order under subsection (1) may declare any premises specified or described in the order to be one or more kinds of facility.

An order under subsection (1) shall not be made in relation to premises under the control of a person (other than the Crown or a person acting on behalf of the Crown) except with the consent in writing of the firstmentioned person.

An order under subsection (1) shall not be made in relation to premises under the control of a Minister (other than the Minister administering this Act) except with the consent in writing of that other Minister.

The Minister may establish and maintain, on any facility that comprises premises that are under the control of the Crown or a person acting on behalf of the Crown, such establishments as the Minister considers necessary for the purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the community welfare legislation.

The objects of the community welfare legislation are—

to promote, protect, develop, maintain and improve the well-being of the people of New South Wales to the maximum extent possible,

to promote the welfare of the family as the basis of community well-being,

to ensure the provision, to the maximum extent possible, of services for, and assistance to, persons disadvantaged because of—

lack of adequate family or social support,

personal or family problems that inhibit adequate social functioning,

the breakdown of the family as a social unit,

lack of adequate food, shelter or other basic necessities,

physical or intellectual impairment,

their being members of an ethnic group which has inadequate access to services or resources available in the community,

age, whether young, advanced or other,

lack of information about or access to services or resources available in the community, or

their residing in places which lack basic services essential to the proper functioning of those persons,

to promote the welfare of Aborigines on the basis of a recognition of—

Aboriginal culture and identity,

Aboriginal community structures,

Aboriginal community standards,

the rights of Aborigines to raise and protect their own children, and

the rights of Aborigines to be involved in the decision-making processes that affect them and their children,

to encourage the establishment of community welfare and other services necessary to promote, protect, develop, maintain and improve the well-being of persons,

to assist and encourage collaboration among persons and organisations engaged in the promotion of community welfare or the provision of community welfare services,

to promote and encourage research, education, instruction and training in matters relating to community welfare,

to promote and facilitate the provision by persons and organisations of services to complement any community welfare service,

to promote the involvement of the community in the provision of community welfare services and in the social development of the community, and

to co-ordinate the allocation of funds for community welfare services.

The provisions of any paragraph of subsection (1) shall not be construed as limiting or being limited by the operation of any other provision of the community welfare legislation.

In making any appointment under the community welfare legislation, the Minister shall have regard to the objects specified in subsection (1).

The Minister may delegate to the Secretary, or to any other person, the exercise of any of the Minister’s functions under the community welfare legislation, other than this power of delegation.

The Secretary may delegate to any person the exercise of—

any of the functions delegated to the Secretary by the Minister, or

any of the other functions of the Secretary under the community welfare legislation, other than this power of delegation.

In this section, a reference to the community welfare legislation includes a reference to each of the following Acts (and to any instrument under the Act) even though the Act may not be administered by the Minister within the Department—

Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987

Children (Protection and Parental Responsibility) Act 1997

However, a reference to community welfare legislation in this section does not include a reference to the Boarding Houses Act 2012 even if it is wholly or partly administered by the Minister.

(Repealed)

The Minister may—

conduct research into community welfare and social development and the adequacy and efficacy of the community welfare legislation, and of the administration of the community welfare legislation, and evaluate the information gained from any such research,

without limiting paragraph (a), conduct research to identify groups of persons who are or who are likely to become disadvantaged, as referred to in section 4 (1) (c),

review, monitor and evaluate programmes for the provision of community welfare services and social development programmes that are carried out under the community welfare legislation or that are financed, wholly or partly, out of funds provided by Parliament for the administration of the community welfare legislation,

grant to such persons or organisations concerned in community welfare or social development as the Minister thinks fit such access to publications and information in the possession of the Department (including the results of any research or evaluation) as the Minister thinks fit and in such manner as the Minister considers would preserve any necessary confidentiality and the privacy of persons,

develop and carry out, or provide assistance and support for the development and carrying out by persons or organisations of, programmes for the provision of community welfare services and social development programmes the objectives of which are consistent with any of the objects of the community welfare legislation, and

with respect to any kind of assistance that may be granted under the community welfare legislation, cause to be published guidelines specifying the circumstances in which that assistance may be granted.

Any assistance or support referred to in subsection (1) (e) may be provided on such conditions as are agreed upon by the Minister and the person or organisation to whom or to which the assistance or support is to be provided.

In the exercise of any function under subsection (1) (e), the Minister shall have regard to the desirability of exercising that function with respect to programmes that—

develop and strengthen local neighbourhood and community interests,

are based on the principle of self-help or the transfer of skills and knowledge, or

take into consideration the multi-cultural nature of the community.

The provisions of any paragraph of subsection (1) shall not be construed as limiting or being limited by the operation of any other provision of this Act.

The Minister may establish and maintain funds (in this section referred to as assistance funds) for the purpose of providing assistance and support for any programmes, as referred to in section 6 (1) (e), being carried out or to be carried out by any persons, other than the Minister, or by any organisations.

An assistance fund shall consist of—

such money as may be provided from time to time by Parliament for the purpose of the carrying out of the programmes for which the assistance fund is established and maintained, and

such other money as may be allocated to the assistance fund from time to time from the Community Welfare Fund.

Payments out of an assistance fund may be made for the purpose of carrying out the programmes for which the assistance fund is established and maintained and may be so made only with the approval of the Minister.

Part 4 of the Disability Inclusion Act 2014 applies to payments out of an assistance fund in the same way as it applies to financial assistance provided under that Act if the payments are to persons or organisations for whom financial assistance may be provided under that Act.

The Minister shall, before giving any such approval, take into consideration any recommendation made by any committee having functions to advise the Minister with respect to those programmes.

The Minister may appoint honorary welfare officers to carry out such duties under the community welfare legislation as may be prescribed by the regulations.

The Secretary shall issue each honorary welfare officer with an identity card evidencing the officer’s appointment.

The Secretary may provide such training and support for honorary welfare officers as the Secretary thinks fit.

The Secretary shall, when given directions by the Minister to do so, cause to be prepared statements of proposed policies with respect to community welfare and social development and proposed programmes for the implementation of those policies.

If the Minister so approves, the Secretary may—

invite participation by such persons and organisations concerned in community welfare or social development as the Secretary thinks fit in the preparation of any such statements or programmes,

cause drafts of any such statements or programmes to be made available for public comment before their submission, with or without amendment, to the Minister, and

cause any such statements or programmes, and any documents or matter used in their preparation, to be published and made available to the public.

The Secretary shall, when given directions by the Minister to do so—

examine any proposed community welfare or social development programmes specified in those directions,

review, monitor and evaluate any community welfare or social development programmes that are—

carried out under the community welfare legislation, or

financed, wholly or partly, out of funds provided by Parliament for the administration of the community welfare legislation,

for the purpose of determining whether they fulfil their objectives and whether their objectives are of value to the community, and

furnish to the Minister a report of any thing done pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b), being a report that contains submissions with respect to—

the priorities that should be accorded to the implementation or improvement of any of the programmes the subject of any such report, and

the resources necessary for the implementation or improvement of any such programmes.