Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990

This Act may be cited as the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990.

This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

In this Act—

Managing Director means the Managing Director of the TAFE Commission.

member of staff or staff member means a member of staff of the TAFE Commission employed under section 15.

TAFE Commission means the Technical and Further Education Commission constituted by this Act.

TAFE Commission Board means the TAFE Commission Board established under this Act.

TAFE establishment means an institution providing technical and further education, being an institution established and maintained by the TAFE Commission.

technical and further education includes—

basic and pre-vocational education, and

vocational education and training.

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.

Notes included in this Act do not form part of this Act.

There is constituted by this Act a body corporate with the corporate name of the Technical and Further Education Commission.

The Technical and Further Education Commission may use, and act under, the name TAFE Commission.

A reference to the TAFE Commission in any Act, in any instrument made under any Act or in any document of any kind is a reference to the Technical and Further Education Commission constituted by this Act.

The TAFE Commission is, for the purposes of any Act, a statutory body representing the Crown.

The principal function of the TAFE Commission is to provide technical and further education services.

The TAFE Commission has such other functions as are conferred or imposed on it by or under this or any other Act.

(Repealed)

In exercising its functions, the TAFE Commission must—

ensure that it provides technical and further education services to meet the needs of individuals and the skill needs of the workforce and, in particular, ensure that it provides basic and pre-vocational education as well as vocational education and training, and

provide adults and young persons with a range of technical and further education services that recognise the changing nature of the working environment and the need for new skills and re-training, and

provide, through formal arrangements and after consultation, technical and further education services that are relevant to the needs of industry, business, students and other client groups, and

provide students with the maximum opportunity for progression by the linking or other articulation of courses and programs provided by the TAFE Commission and between those courses and programs and those provided by other education and training providers, and

provide educationally or vocationally disadvantaged groups (such as women, Aborigines, persons of non-English speaking background, persons with disabilities and persons in rural areas) with access to technical and further education services, including a range of appropriate specialised services, and

consult with relevant agencies to promote the effective and efficient use of resources and co-operation between TAFE establishments and other educational institutions.

Nothing in this section gives rise to, or can be taken into account in, any civil cause of action.

Without limiting any other functions conferred or imposed on it, the TAFE Commission may—

establish and maintain TAFE establishments, and

provide courses of study at TAFE establishments and at other places, and

confer educational awards on students who have completed technical or further education courses (and determine the eligibility of students to receive those awards), and

provide student support services, including library, counselling, course information, student activities and child care services, and

make loans and grants to students of TAFE establishments, and

impose penalties (including pecuniary penalties) for breaches of discipline by students of TAFE establishments, and

enter into credit transfer arrangements with other education and training providers (including government agencies, higher education institutions and private agencies), and

impose fees and charges (and grant exemptions from payment of fees and charges), including fees and charges to be paid in respect of the following—

• entrance to a TAFE establishment,

• tuition,

• examinations,

• the conferring of educational awards,

• residence,

• the provision of amenities and services, whether or not of an educational nature, and

enter into commercial arrangements for the provision of technical and further education services and for the payment of appropriate fees and charges for those services (including arrangements with employers for the provision of services to their employees), and

with the approval of the Minister, conduct any business which is related to technical and further education or which makes use of the facilities, staff or services of the TAFE Commission.

The exercise of the functions of the TAFE Commission under this section is subject to—

in the case of the provision of accredited courses of study and the conferring of educational awards or statements of attainment in connection with those courses—the provisions of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 of the Commonwealth, and

in any case—any requirements of the regulations.

The TAFE Commission may, with the approval of the Minister—

form, or participate in the formation of, private corporations, and

acquire, sell or otherwise dispose of interests in private corporations, and

enter into partnerships, joint ventures or other profit-making arrangements,

for the purpose of the exercise of the functions of the TAFE Commission referred to in subsection (1) (j) or such other of its functions of a commercial nature as the Minister may approve.

A private corporation in which the TAFE Commission has a controlling or other interest is not, and does not represent, the Crown.

The Minister may give an approval under this section that is limited to a particular case or that applies generally.

The TAFE Commission may exercise its functions under this Act within or outside the State, including outside Australia. The TAFE Commission is taken always to have had the powers conferred by this subsection.

The TAFE Commission may delegate to an authorised person any of the functions of the TAFE Commission, other than this power of delegation.

A delegate may sub-delegate to an authorised person any function delegated by the TAFE Commission if the delegate is authorised in writing to do so by the TAFE Commission.

Any of the following functions may not be delegated or sub-delegated to an authorised person unless that person is a member of staff or a person employed in the Department of Industry—

a function under this Act, or any other law, of entering into agreements relating to an industrial matter,

(Repealed)

a function in proceedings concerning industrial awards.

In this section, authorised person means—

a member of staff, or

a person employed in the Department of Industry, or

a person of a class prescribed by the regulations or approved by the Minister.

The TAFE Commission is, in the exercise of its functions, subject to the control and direction of the Minister.

The TAFE Commission is required to prepare and deliver to the Minister, at least 3 months before the beginning of each financial year of the TAFE Commission, a draft corporate plan for the financial year.

The TAFE Commission must—

consider any comments on the draft corporate plan that were made by the Minister within 2 months after the draft plan was delivered to the Minister, and

deliver the completed corporate plan to the Minister before the beginning of the financial year concerned.

The TAFE Commission is, as far as practicable, to exercise its functions in accordance with the relevant corporate plan.

A corporate plan must specify—

the separate activities of the TAFE Commission and, in particular, the separate commercial and non-commercial activities, and

the objectives of each such separate activity for the financial year concerned and for future financial years, and

the strategies, policies and budgets for achieving those objectives, and

targets and criteria for assessing the TAFE Commission’s performance.

This section is subject to the requirements of any direction of the Minister under section 9.

There shall be a TAFE Commission Board.

The TAFE Commission Board is to consist of the following 13 members—

the Managing Director of the TAFE Commission,

a senior member of staff, or a Public Service senior executive employed in the Department of Industry, for the time being nominated by the Minister,

(Repealed)

a person for the time being nominated by the Minister for Education,

10 members appointed by the Minister.

The senior member of staff, or the Public Service senior executive employed in the Department of Industry, nominated by the Minister must have a background in education if the Managing Director does not have such a background.

The members appointed by the Minister must have such qualifications and experience in the areas of management, industry, commerce, industrial relations, higher education, vocational education and training or community service as the Minister considers necessary to enable them to make a valuable contribution to technical and further education in the State.

In making appointments of members, the Minister is to have regard to the need to appoint—

both men and women, and

persons who have knowledge or expertise in the education and training of women, Aborigines, persons from non-English speaking backgrounds, persons with disabilities and persons from rural areas, and

persons with knowledge or expertise in basic or pre-vocational education as well as vocational education and training.

Schedule 1 has effect with respect to the members and procedure of the TAFE Commission Board.

The functions of the TAFE Commission Board are to review and make recommendations to the Minister on the following—

policies related to the technical and further education services provided by the TAFE Commission,

efficiency and effectiveness in relation to the operation and management of the technical and further education services provided by the TAFE Commission,

the Commission’s commercial activities, the setting of priorities for its commercial operations and the utilisation of funds generated from commercial activities, consistent with the Government’s overall policies and objectives in the education and training area,

the corporate plans prepared by the TAFE Commission under this Part,

the relationship between the TAFE Commission and other education sectors, including schools, higher education and adult and community education,

any matter referred to the Board by the Minister.

The Minister is to have regard to the recommendations of the TAFE Commission Board when giving directions to the Managing Director under this Act with respect to the exercise of the functions of the TAFE Commission.

(Repealed)