States Grants (Housing) Act 1971

Act No. 111 of 1971 as amended

[Note: This Act was repealed by Act No. 108 of 2006 on 27 September 2006]

This compilation was prepared on 24 January 2001
taking into account amendments up to Act No. 160 of 2000

The text of any of those amendments not in force
on that date is appended in the Notes section

The operation of amendments that have been incorporated may be
affected by application provisions that are set out in the Notes section

Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing,
Attorney‑General’s Department, Canberra

Contents

1............ Short title [see Note 1]....................................................................... 1

2............ Commencement [see Note 1].............................................................. 1

3............ Interpretation...................................................................................... 1

4............ Repeal................................................................................................. 3

5............ Grants for purposes of housing.......................................................... 3

6............ Grants to be subject to conditions...................................................... 4

7............ Separate account to be kept of certain moneys.................................. 4

8............ Moneys not paid into account to be made available to housing authority              6

9............ State to furnish certain information for purposes of grant under section 5             6

10.......... Additional grants for purposes of rental assistance........................... 7

11.......... Grants to be used to assist housing authorities to charge reduced rents  8

12.......... State to furnish certain information for purposes of grant under section 10           8

13.......... Conditions as to repayments.............................................................. 9

14.......... Method of making payments............................................................. 9

15.......... Appropriation.................................................................................... 9

Notes                                                                                                                                            11

An Act to grant Financial Assistance to the States for the purpose of Housing

1  Short title [see Note 1]

                   This Act may be cited as the States Grants (Housing) Act 1971.

2  Commencement [see Note 1]

                   This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

3  Interpretation

             (1)  In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

approved person means a person included in a class of persons whom the appropriate Minister of State of the State in which those persons live considers to be in need of assistance in connexion with the provision of housing.

building society means:

                     (a)  a body corporate in relation to which the following conditions are satisfied:

                              (i)  the body corporate is an ADI (authorised deposit‑taking institution) for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959;

                             (ii)  the body corporate has a consent under section 66 of that Act that allows it to assume or use the expression building society, or another expression (whether or not in English) that is of like import to the expression building society; or

                     (b)  a society registered or incorporated as a co‑operative housing society or similar society under a law of a State or Territory.

housing authority, in relation to a State, means:

                     (a)  in the case of New South Wales—The Housing Commission of New South Wales;

                     (b)  in the case of Victoria—the Housing Commission constituted under the Housing Act 1958 of that State as amended and in force for the time being;

                     (c)  in the case of Queensland—The Queensland Housing Commission;

                     (d)  in the case of South Australia—the South Australian Housing Trust;

                     (e)  in the case of Western Australia—The State Housing Commission constituted under the State Housing Act 1946 of that State as amended and in force for the time being; and

                      (f)  in the case of Tasmania—the Director of Housing holding office under the Homes Act 1935 of that State as amended and in force for the time being.

prescribed year means the year that commenced on 1st July, 1971, or the next succeeding year.

relevant year means the year that commenced on 1st July, 1971, or any of the next four succeeding years.

the Financial Agreement means the agreement a copy of which is set out in the Schedule to the Financial Agreement Act 1928 as varied by any subsequent agreement approved by the Parliament.

year means a period of twelve months commencing on any first day of July.

             (2)  A reference in this Act to the amount set aside by a State in a year for housing is a reference to so much of the total of the amounts borrowed for and on behalf of that State under the Financial Agreement in respect of that year as was set aside by that State to be:

                     (a)  lent to building societies, or, as approved by the Minister, to other bodies, so as to provide finance to assist persons to erect or purchase dwellings for themselves and their families; or

                     (b)  made available to the housing authority of that State for the purpose of the provision of dwellings for sale or lease to approved persons (other than dwellings provided on behalf of another authority of that State), including:

                              (i)  the acquisition or resumption of land on which the dwellings are to be provided;

                             (ii)  the making of roads or other facilities affording access to the dwellings;

                            (iii)  the connecting of the dwellings with sewerage, drainage, water, gas and electric power and lighting systems; and

                            (iv)  the establishing and extending of such systems to connect with the dwellings.

             (3)  The Minister may, if the appropriate Minister of State of a State so requests, determine that an amount set aside by that State in a year to be made available to the housing authority of that State for a purpose referred to in subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (b) of the last preceding subsection is not to be treated as part of the amount set aside by that State in that year for housing.

4  Repeal

                   The States Grants (Housing Assistance) Act 1971 is repealed.

5  Grants for purposes of housing

             (1)  There is payable to the States, in respect of each prescribed year, by way of financial assistance, an amount of Eighty‑two million five hundred thousand dollars.

             (2)  Of the amount payable to the States under the last preceding subsection in respect of a prescribed year, Two million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars shall be paid in that year and Two million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars shall be paid in each of the next twenty‑nine succeeding years.

             (3)  The amount payable to a State under the last preceding subsection in any year is such percentage of the amount, or of the total of the amounts, as the case may be, payable to the States under that subsection in that year as is specified in the following table opposite to the name of that State.

6  Grants to be subject to conditions

                   The grant of financial assistance to a State under the last preceding section is subject to the condition that the State will comply with the provisions of the next two succeeding sections.

7  Separate account to be kept of certain moneys

             (1)  There shall be opened and maintained in the public accounts of the State a separate account (in this section referred to as the account) in accordance with this section.

             (2)  Subject to the next succeeding subsection, there shall be credited to the account in each prescribed year not less than thirty per centum of the amount set aside by the State for housing in that prescribed year.

             (3)  The Minister may, in special circumstances, determine that the State is not to be taken to have failed to comply with the last preceding subsection by reason only that the amount credited to the account in a prescribed year is a percentage of the amount set aside by the State for housing in that prescribed year that is less than thirty.

             (4)  Subject to the next succeeding subsection, there shall be credited to the account not less than thirty per centum of each amount paid to the State under section 5 of this Act.

             (5)  If, in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section, the Minister determines that the State is not to be taken to have failed to comply with subsection (2) of this section by reason only that the amount credited to the account in a prescribed year is a percentage of the amount set aside by the State for housing in that prescribed year that is less than thirty, the reference in the last preceding subsection to thirty per centum of each amount paid to the State under section 5 of this Act shall, in relation to so much of any such amount as was paid in respect of that prescribed year, be read as a reference to that lesser percentage.

             (6)  There shall be credited to the account any amounts received by the State in repayment of, or in payment of interest on, loans made out of moneys standing to the credit of the account.

             (7)  Subject to the next succeeding subsection, moneys standing to the credit of the account shall not be expended except for or in relation to:

                     (a)  the making of loans:

                              (i)  to building societies; or

                             (ii)  as approved by the Minister—to other bodies;

                            for the purpose of providing finance to assist persons to erect or purchase dwellings for themselves and their families;

                     (b)  the repayment of moneys borrowed for and on behalf of the State and credited by the State to the account and the payment of interest in respect of those moneys; or

                     (c)  the expenses of maintaining the account.

             (8)  In the expenditure of moneys standing to the credit of the account for and in relation to the making of loans in accordance with paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection, so much of those moneys as was credited to the account in accordance with subsections (4) and (5) of this section shall be applied in reducing the payments, including payments of interest, that would, but for the grant of financial assistance to the State under section 5 of this Act, have been required to be made by building societies or other bodies referred to in paragraph (a) of the last preceding subsection in respect of loans made to them directly or indirectly out of moneys credited to the account during the prescribed years but so as not to discriminate between different building societies and other bodies.

             (9)  Nothing in this section prevents a State from dealing with the account in any manner authorized by a clause (being a clause corresponding to clause 23 of the form of agreement contained in the Schedule to the Housing Assistance Act 1978) of the agreement between the Commonwealth and the State executed under section 4 of the Housing Assistance Act 1978.

8.  Moneys not paid into account to be made available to housing authority

             (1)  So much of the amount set aside by a State for housing in a prescribed year as is not required by subsections (2) and (3) of the last preceding section to be credited to the account maintained in the public accounts of the State in accordance with that section shall be made available to the housing authority of the State for the purposes referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 3 of this Act.

             (2)  So much of any amount paid to a State under section 5 of this Act as is not required by subsections (4) and (5) of the last preceding section to be credited to the account maintained in the public accounts of the State in accordance with the last preceding section shall be applied by the housing authority of the State for the purpose of reducing the payments to that housing authority that would, but for the grant of financial assistance to the State under section 5 of this Act, have been required to be made by approved persons in respect of the purchase or lease of dwellings by those persons from that housing authority, being dwellings the cost of providing which was directly or indirectly paid for in whole or in part out of moneys made available to that housing authority during the prescribed years.

9  State to furnish certain information for purposes of grant under section 5

             (1)  The grant of financial assistance to a State under section 5 of this Act is, in addition to the condition specified in section 6 of this Act, subject to the condition that the State will comply with the succeeding provisions of this section.

             (2)  As soon as practicable after the end of each prescribed year, there shall be furnished to the Minister a statement setting out:

                     (a)  the amount set aside by the State in that year for housing;

                     (b)  the amount credited in that year, out of the amount referred to in the last preceding paragraph, to the account maintained in the public accounts of the State in accordance with section 7 of this Act; and

                     (c)  the amount made available in that year, out of the amount referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection, for use by the housing authority of the State;

together with a certificate by the Auditor‑General of the State as to the correctness of the statement.

             (3)  As soon as practicable after the end of each year in which an amount is paid to the State under section 5 of this Act, there shall be furnished to the Minister:

                     (a)  a statement setting out:

                              (i)  the portion of that amount that was credited to the account maintained in the public accounts of the State in accordance with section 7 of this Act; and

                             (ii)  the portion of that amount that was applied by the housing authority of the State for the purpose referred to in subsection (2) of the last preceding section;

                            together with a certificate by the Auditor‑General of the State as to the correctness of the statement; and

                     (b)  such other information (if any) as the Minister requires in relation to the manner in which that amount was applied by the State.

10  Additional grants for purposes of rental assistance

             (1)  There is payable to the States, in each relevant year, by way of financial assistance, an amount of One million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

             (2)  The amount payable to a State under this section in any year is such percentage of the amount payable to the States under this section in that year as is specified in the following table opposite to the name of that State.

11  Grants to be used to assist housing authorities to charge reduced rents

             (1)  A grant of financial assistance to a State under the last preceding section in a year is subject to the condition that the amount of the grant is paid in that year to the housing authority of the State and is used by that housing authority in that year for the purpose of leasing dwellings to needy persons at rents that are less than the rents ordinarily paid by approved persons in respect of those dwellings.

             (2)  For the purposes of this section, a person is a needy person in relation to a dwelling if he is included in a class of persons whom the appropriate Minister of State of the State considers to have insufficient means to be able to pay the rent ordinarily paid by an approved person in respect of that dwelling.

12  State to furnish certain information for purposes of grant under section 10

                   The grant of financial assistance to a State under section 10 of this Act is, in addition to the condition specified in the last preceding section, subject to the condition that, as soon as practicable after the end of each relevant year, the State will furnish to the Minister:

                     (a)  a certificate by the Auditor‑General of the State stating whether the amount of the grant paid to the State under section 10 of this Act in that year was paid to, and used by, the housing authority of the State in accordance with the last preceding section; and

                     (b)  such other information (if any) as the Minister requires in relation to the manner in which that amount was applied by the State.

13  Conditions as to repayments

                   In addition to the conditions specified in any of the preceding provisions of this Act, payment of an amount to a State under this Act is subject to the condition that:

                     (a)  if the Minister informs the Treasurer of the State that he is satisfied that the State has failed to fulfil a condition applicable to that amount, the State will repay that amount to the Commonwealth; and

                     (b)  if that amount exceeds the amount properly payable, the State will repay the excess to the Commonwealth.

14  Method of making payments

                   A grant payable to a State under this Act in a year shall be paid in such amounts and at such times during that year as the Minister determines.

15  Appropriation

                   Payments for the purposes of this Act shall be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, which is appropriated accordingly.

Notes to the States Grants (Housing) Act 1971

Note 1

The States Grants (Housing) Act 1971(a) as shown in this compilation comprises Act No. 111, 1971 amended as indicated in the table below.

For all relevant information pertaining to application, saving or transitional provisions see Table A.

Table of Acts

(a)     This citation is provided for by the Amendments Incorporation Act 1905 and the Acts Citation Act 1976.

(b)    The States Grants (Housing) Act 1971 was amended by Schedule 7 (item 213) only of the Financial Sector Reform (Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1999, subsections 3(1), (2)(e) and (16) of which provide as follows:

                 (1)   Subject to this section, this Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

                 (2)   The following provisions commence on the transfer date:

                      (e)   subject to subsection (12), Schedule 7, other than items 43, 44, 118, 205 and 207 (the commencement of those items is covered by subsections (10), (11) and (13)).

               (16)   The Governor‑General may, by Proclamation published in the Gazette, specify the date that is to be the transfer date for the purposes of this Act.

Table of Amendments

Table A

Application, saving or transitional provisions

Financial Sector Reform (Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act (No. 1) 1999 (No. 44, 1999)

Schedule 8

22  Regulations may deal with transitional, saving or application matters

(1)        The regulations may deal with matters of a transitional, saving or application nature relating to:

                     (a)  the transition from the application of provisions of the replaced legislation to the application of provisions of the Banking Act 1959, the Life Insurance Act 1995, the Financial Sector (Transfers of Business) Act 1999, the Financial Sector (Shareholdings) Act 1998 or the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998; or

                     (b)  the transition, for The Cairns Cooperative Weekly Penny Savings Bank Limited, from the application of provisions of the Financial Intermediaries Act 1996 of Queensland to the application of provisions of any of the Acts referred to in paragraph (a); or

                     (c)  the amendments and repeals made by the Schedules to this Act.

(2)        Without limiting subitem (1), the regulations may provide for a matter to be dealt with, wholly or partly, in any of the following ways:

                     (a)  by applying (with or without modifications) to the matter:

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

                             (ii)  provisions of a repealed or amended law of the Commonwealth, or of a State or Territory, in the form that those provisions took before the repeal or amendment; or

                            (iii)  a combination of provisions referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii);

                     (b)  by otherwise specifying rules for dealing with the matter;

                     (c)  by specifying a particular consequence of the matter, or of an outcome of the matter, for the purposes of a law of the Commonwealth.

(3)        Without limiting subitems (1) and (2), the regulations may provide for the continued effect, for the purposes of a provision of a law of the Commonwealth, of a thing done or instrument made, or a class of things done or instruments made, before the transfer date under or for the purposes of a provision of a law of a State or Territory. In the case of an instrument or class of instruments, the regulations may provide for the instrument or instruments to continue to have effect subject to modifications.

(4)        Without limiting subitem (3), regulations providing for the continued effect of things done or instruments made may permit all or any of the following matters to be determined in writing by a specified person, or by a person included in a specified class of persons:

                     (a)  the identification of a thing done or instrument made, or a class of things done or instruments made, that is to continue to have effect;

                     (b)  the purpose for which a thing done or instrument made, or a class of things done or instruments made, is to continue to have effect;

                     (c)  any modifications subject to which an instrument made, or a class of instruments made, is to continue to have effect.

(5)        Despite subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, regulations for the purposes of this item:

                     (a)  may be expressed to take effect from a date before the regulations are notified in the Gazette; and

                     (b)  may provide for a determination of a kind referred to in subitem (4) to take effect from a date before the determination is made (including a date before the regulations are notified in the Gazette).

(6)        In this item, a reference to a law, whether of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory, includes a reference to an instrument made under such a law.

(7)        In this item:

replaced legislation means:

                     (a)  the AFIC Codes; and

                     (b)  the Financial Institutions Codes; and

                     (c)  the Friendly Societies Codes; and

                     (d)  the Australian Financial Institutions Commission Act 1992 of Queensland, and any Act of another State or of a Territory that provides for the application, as a law of the State or Territory, of the Code set out in section 21 of the Australian Financial Institutions Commission Act 1992 of Queensland; and

                     (e)  the Financial Institutions (Queensland) Act 1992 of Queensland, and any Act of another State or of a Territory that provides for the application, as a law of the State or Territory, of the Code set out in section 30 of the Financial Institutions (Queensland) Act 1992 of Queensland; and

                      (f)  the Friendly Societies (Victoria) Act 1996 of Victoria, and any Act of another State or of a Territory that provides for the application, as a law of the State or Territory, of the Code set out in the Schedule to the Friendly Societies (Victoria) Act 1996 of Victoria; and

                     (g)  the Friendly Societies (Western Australia) Act 1999; and

                     (h)  any other law of a State or Territory prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.

23  Power to make regulations

The Governor‑General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed.