UNIVERSITIES ( FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE) BILL 1965
Second Reading Speech by the Prime Minister,
the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Menzies, M. P.
House of Representatives 18th November, 1965
This is the third occasion on which the Government has
proposed amendments to the Universities ( Financial Assistance)
Act in order to provide additional funds for State universities
during the 1964-1966 triennium. With this Bill we are recommending
Commonwealth grants for capital works at medical teaching
hospitals of œ 1,555,850 and further grants of œ 184,900 for the
recurrent costs of those hospitals which are directly attributable
to the instruction of undergraduate students in teaching hospitals.
This sum of œ 1,740,750 will raise the total amount of Commonwealth
financial assistance to State universities during the present
triennium to approximately œ 73million. In addition the Commonwealth
will find œ 24million for the Australian National Univ~ ersity.
The Government provided grants for certain capital
projects at medical teaching hospitals during the 1961-1963
triennium. Earlier this year the second report of the Universities
Commission's Committee on the Teaching Costs of Medical Hospitals
became available. It recommended further capital grants and, in
addition, assistance with some elements of the recurrent costs of
medical teaching hospitals.
I remind Honourable Members that the Government's
decisions on that report were announced on 5th August last during
the Parliamentary recess. The report itself was tabled in both
Houses on 24th August.
The Government did not accept all the recommendations
of the Committee, but did agree to support, pound for pound, such
of the capital projects recommended by the Committee for various
medical teaching hospitals as the States thought could be completed,
or nearly completed, by 31st December, 1966, the end of the
present triennium. We also agreed to support from 1st July, 1965,
on the usual œ 1 to œ 1.85 basis, certain items of the recurrent
costs of teaching hospitals which are directly attributable to the
clinical teaching of undergraduate medical students. The items
with which we will assist are:-
* The cost of the administration concerned solely with
the planning, organization and supervision of teaching
programmes within the hospital.
* Maintenance and service costs of the areas and of
activities used by clinical students and university
staff.
* The costs of providing books and periodicals for
undergraduate students in teaching hospital libraries.
Particulars of the grants to individual universities
with teaching hospitals are set out in the schedules to the Bill.
As the Bill provides only for those capital projects
which the States have indicated can be completed or nearly
completed by 31st December, 1966, there are several variations
from the amounts recommended in the Report of the Committee on
Teaching Costs of Medical Hospitals. I would emphasise that
these variations have been made on the basis of information
received from each State after each had been told of the
4 2.
Commonwealth's willingness to support the whole of' the programme
recommended by the Committee subject to each State's views on
what it would be practicable to construct in the time available.
I have little doubt that subject to changes because of revised
priorities, the teaching hospital projects now deleted will find
places in the 1967-1969 programme. This, however, is a matter
for decisions which will be taken on the recommendations yet to
be made by the Universities Commission for the 1967-1969 triennium.
So far as the recurrent grants are concerned, owr share
of the cost of the items accepted for grant purposes will be a
maximum of œ 184,900 for the period 1st July, 1965, to 31st
December, 1966, of which up to œ, 123,000 will be required during
this financial year 1965/ 66. The allocation of this sum among the
States concerned is set out in the Sixth Schedule.
But I wish to emphasise that the amounts for recurrent
grants listed in that Schedule are, in each case, maximum amounts
so far as the Commonwealth is concerned and are payable only on
certification by the States to the satisfaction of the Minister
that the amounts claimed have been legitimately incurred in
respect of the three elements of cost approved by the Commonwealth
and are within the limits of the sums set out in Table 7 of the
Committee's report for those elements of cost. These amounts are
provided on the basis of estimates by the Committee only and I
emphasise that the Commonwealth Minister will need to be satisfied
that the amounts claimed in respect of the various elements of
recurrent expenditure are reasonable. The amounts set down in
the Schedule are not to be regarded as an automatic entitlement.
Honourable Members will note the Repatriation General
Hospital, Concord, among the capital works in the Fifth Schedule
to the Bill. Provision has been made for Concord also in the
recurrent expenses of the University of Sydney in the Sixth
Schedule. For many years Concord has served as a teaching hospital
for the University of Sydney and the Commonwealth has met all the
costs incurred. However, under the new arrangements universities
will accept responsibility for certain capital and recurrent costs
directly attributable to teaching, and it is appropriate therefore
that the Commonwealth and State Governments shall share
responsibility for those costs at Concord just as they will for
State teaching hospitals.
This Bill also provides for a minor amendment to the main
Act to allow the University of Melbourne to attract a Commonwealth
capital grant of œ 15,000 for an animal breeding unit which it
wishes to build at Werribee instead of Mt. flerrimut where it was
originally intended to be and which is the location given to it
in the Principal Act. The change has been approved by the
Universities Commission. Funds are not affected.
I commend the Bill to the House.