3. Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended:

(a) by adding at the end of the definition of “employee” the following word and paragraph:

“or (f) a person who is taken not to be an employee because of section 4a;”;

“ ‘Senior Executive Service office’ has the same meaning as in the Public Service Act 1922;

‘statutory fee upper limit’ means:

(a) in relation to the year commencing on 1 July 1991—$500; or

(b) in relation to a later year—the amount calculated by multiplying the statutory fee upper limit for the previous year by the indexation factor for the later year;”.

4. After section 4 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:

Interpretation —meaning of “employee”— exclusion of persons covered by recognised alternative training levy schemes

“4a. (1) A person who, under the regulations, is taken to be covered by a recognised alternative training levy scheme is taken not to be an employee for the purposes of this Act.

“(2) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1) may provide for the following:

(a) empowering the Minister to make decisions (in this section called ‘approval-in-principle decisions’) about the conditions that must be satisfied in relation to a particular scheme in order to qualify for:

(i) recognised alternative training levy scheme status for the scheme; and

(ii) recognition of coverage of persons by the scheme;

(b) empowering the Minister to make decisions (in this section called ‘scheme decisions’) about:

(i) recognised alternative training levy scheme status; and

(ii) recognition of coverage of persons by schemes;

on either of the following bases:

(iii) the basis that the conditions specified in an approval-in-principle decision have been satisfied;

(iv) the basis that, because of special circumstances, even though the conditions specified in an approval-in-principle decision have not been satisfied, it is reasonable to recognise a scheme or the coverage of persons as if those conditions had been satisfied;

(i) obtain certificates about satisfaction of relevant conditions from persons specified in the regulations; and

(ii) cause those certificates to be given to the Minister;

(g) requiring the managers of schemes to notify changed circumstances;

(h) enabling employers to lodge training guarantee statements on the assumption that conditions specified in an approval-in-principle decision will be satisfied;

(i) enabling the Commissioner to amend an assessment if such an assumption proves to be incorrect.

“(3) Subsection (2) does not limit the generality of subsection (1).

“(4) The powers conferred by this section do not limit the powers conferred by virtue of paragraph (e) of the definition of ‘employee’ in section 4.”.

5. After section 11 of the Principal Act the following sections are inserted:

Treatment of partnerships

“11a. (1) Subject to this section, this Act applies to a partnership as if the partnership were a person.

“(2) An obligation that, apart from this subsection, would be imposed by this Act on a person, being a partnership, is imposed on each partner, but may be discharged by any of the partners.

“(3) An amount that, apart from this subsection, would be payable under this Act by a person, being a partnership, is jointly and severally payable by the partners.

“(4) Where, by virtue of the operation of subsection (1), an offence against this Act is taken to have been committed by a partnership, that offence is taken to have been committed by each of the partners.

“(5) In a prosecution of a person for an offence by virtue of this section, it is a defence if the person proves that the person:

“(6) A reference in this section to this Act includes a reference to Taxation Administration Act 1953, in so far as that Part relates to this Act.Part III of the

Treatment of unincorporated associations

“11b. (1) This section applies to an unincorporated association or body of persons (other than a partnership).

“(2) Subject to this section, this Act applies to an association or body as if the association or body were a person.

“(3) An obligation that, apart from this subsection, would be imposed by this Act on a person, being an association or body, is imposed on the controlling officer or officers of the association or body.

“(4) An amount that, apart from this subsection, would be payable under this Act by a person, being an association or body, is jointly and severally payable by the members of the association or body.

“(5) Where, by virtue of the operation of subsection (2), an offence against this Act is taken to have been committed by an association or body, that offence is taken to have been committed by the controlling officer or officers of the association or body.

“(6) In a prosecution of a person for an offence by virtue of this section, it is a defence if the person proves that the person:

“(7) A reference in this section to a controlling officer of an association or body is a reference to a person who has authority to determine, or who has control over:

in relation to which the obligation arose, or the act or omission occurred, as the case may be.

“(8) A reference in this section to this Act includes a reference to Taxation Administration Act 1953, in so far as that Part relates to this Act.”.Part III of the

6. Section 12 of the Principal Act is amended:

(a) by omitting paragraph (3) (b) and substituting the following paragraphs:

“(b) an obligation that, apart from this subsection, would be imposed by this Act on the members as if they were a single person during the year is imposed on each member, but may be discharged by any of the members; and

(i) did not aid, abet, counsel or procure the act or omission by virtue of which the offence is taken to have been committed; and

(ii) was not in any way, by act or omission, directly or indirectly, knowingly concerned in, or party to, the act or omission by virtue of which the offence is taken to have been committed.”;

(b) by omitting subsection (4) and substituting the following subsections:

“(4) For the purposes of this section, a business group consists of any collection of 2 or more corporations each of which is related to each of the others.

“(5) For the purposes of this section, the question whether corporations are related to each other is to be determined in the same manner as the question whether corporations within the meaning of the Companies Act 1981 are related to each other would be determined under that Act.

“(6) An election purporting to be made by a corporation under this section in relation to a year is of no effect if:

(i) the corporation has made an election in relation to that year, or in relation to a 3-year period that includes that year, under regulations made for the purposes of section 18a;

(ii) as a result of that election, the corporation and at least one other corporation are taken to be a single employer in relation to that year, or in relation to a 3-year period that includes that year, for the purposes of those regulations;

(iii) that single employer is, under those regulations, an eligible outstanding trainer in relation to that year or in relation to a 3-year period that includes that year.

“(7) A reference in this section to this Act includes a reference to Taxation Administration Act 1953, in so far as that Part relates to this Act.Part III of the

“(8) This section does not apply in relation to section 18a or regulations made for the purposes of section 18a.”.

7. Section 13 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end of subsection (2) the following paragraph:

“(d) section 18a (Exemption for outstanding trainers).”.

8. After section 18 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:

Exemption for outstanding trainers

“18a. (1) Training guarantee charge is not payable by an employer for a year if, under the regulations, the employer is taken to be an eligible outstanding trainer for that year or for a 3-year period that includes that year.

“(2) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1) may provide for the following:

(i) obtain certificates about compliance with relevant criteria from persons specified in the regulations; and

(ii) cause those certificates to be given to the Minister or other person making a decision covered by paragraph (a);

(f) requiring employers who have been granted eligible outstanding trainer status to notify changed circumstances.

“(3) Subsection (2) does not limit the generality of subsection (1).

“(4) The regulations may provide for 2 or more corporations who are members of a business group within the meaning of section 12 to elect to have themselves treated as a single employer in relation to a year or in relation to a 3-year period for the purposes of this section.”.

9. Section 25 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end the following subsection:

“(5) An employer’s eligible training expenditure does not include an amount paid by way of contribution or levy to a scheme if:

10. Section 27 of the Principal Act is amended:

(a) by omitting paragraph (1) (b) and substituting the following paragraphs:

“(b) the sole or principal object of the program is to develop, maintain or improve employment related skills of employees or other persons; and

“(4a) For the purposes of paragraph (1) (d), to the extent that a training program consists of on-the-job training, any productive activity that results from that on-the-job training is taken to be a matter that is directed towards the development, maintenance or improvement of employment related skills of employees or other persons.”;

(d) by inserting in subsection (5) “or (d) or subsection (4a)” after “(1) (b)”.

11. Section 39 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after subsection (1) the following subsection:

“(1a) In spite of anything in section 101a, for the purposes only of this section, a registered industry training agent who provides services to an employer in relation to a training advisory certificate is taken to provide those services:

12. Section 43 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after subsection (1) the following subsection:

“(1a) The industry training agent may charge the employer a fee for making the application.”.

13. Section 44 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after subsection (2) the following subsection:

“(2a) The training advisory body may charge the registered industry training agent a fee for making the request.”.

14. Section 61 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after subsection (1) the following subsection:

“(1a) The training advisory body may charge the employer a fee for making the application.”.

15. Section 93 of the Principal Act is amended:

(a) by adding at the end of subsection (1) the following word and paragraph:

“; or (c) the person has contravened subsection 101a (5) or has otherwise engaged in conduct with the intention of defeating the object of that subsection.”;

“(3) The training advisory body must cancel the registration of a person as an industry training agent if the person requests the cancellation.”.

16. After section 101 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:

Fees for training advisory certificates

“101a. (1) This section applies to a fee:

“(2) A fee is paid to the agent or body in its own right and in its capacity as the direct provider of services to the person who made the application or request.

“(3) Accordingly, a fee is not paid to the agent or body in a capacity as agent for the Commonwealth.

“(4) A fee may be recovered by an agent or body as a debt due to the agent or body.

“(5) A fee for making an application or request must not exceed the statutory fee upper limit for the year in which the application or request was made.”.

17. Section 102 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting “and prescribing fees not exceeding $500 for the issue of training advisory certificates”.

Repeal of Part 12 and Schedule

20. Section 49 of the Principal Act does not prevent the amendment of an assessment for the purpose of giving effect to this Act.

No. 60, 1990.

[Minister’s second reading speech made in—

House of Representatives on 11 April 1991

Senate on 14 May 1991]