{"id":"C1973A00177","name":"Commission on Advanced Education Act 1973","slug":"commission-on-advanced-education-act-1973","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"177 of 1973","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":2578,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1973A00177-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-29","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commission on Advanced Education Act 1973","content":"Commission on Advanced Education Act 1973\n\nNo. 177 of 1973\n\nAN ACT\n\nRelating to the Commission on Advanced Education.\n\n\\[Assented to 12 December 1973\\]\n\nBE IT ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title and citation.\n\n1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Commission on Advanced Education Act 1973.\n\n(2) The Australian Commission on Advanced Education Act 1971 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.\n\n(3) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Commission on Advanced Education Act 1971–1973.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nDefinitions.\n\n3. Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by inserting after the definition of “advanced education” the following definition:—\n\n“‘Chairman’ means the Chairman of the Commission;”;\n\n  \n\n(b) by inserting after the definition of “college of advanced education” the following definitions:—\n\n“‘Commission’ means the Commission on Advanced Education;\n\n‘Deputy Chairman’ means the Deputy Chairman of the Commission;”; and\n\n(c) by omitting the definitions of “the Chairman” and “the Commission”.\n\nEstablishment of Commission.\n\n4. Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by omitting sub-section (1) and substituting the following sub\\-section:—\n\n“(1) The Commission established by the Australian Commission on Advanced Education Act 1971 by the name of the Australian Commission on Advanced Education is continued in existence by the name of the Commission on Advanced Education.”;\n\n(b) by inserting in sub-section (2), after the word “Chairman”, the words “, a Deputy Chairman”; and\n\n(c) by inserting in sub-section (4), after the words “seven years”, the words “the Deputy Chairman shall be appointed for a term not exceeding seven years”.\n\nActing members.\n\n5. Section 6 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting sub-section (3) and substituting the following sub-sections:—\n\n“(3) In the event of the inability of the Deputy Chairman (whether on account of illness or otherwise) to attend meetings of the Commission, the Minister may appoint a member, other than the Chairman, to be the acting Deputy Chairman of the Commission during that inability.\n\n“(4) An appointment under this section may be terminated at any time by the Minister.”.\n\n6. Section 7 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted:—\n\nRemuneration.\n\n“7. (1) The Chairman shall be paid remuneration at such rate, and an annual allowance at such rate, as are fixed by the Parliament in relation to the Chairman of the Commission, and such other allowances as are prescribed.\n\n“(2) The Deputy Chairman shall be paid remuneration at such rate as is fixed by the Parliament in relation to the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, and such allowances, other than an annual allowance, as are prescribed, but, until 1 January 1975, the rate of that remuneration shall be as prescribed.\n\n  \n\n“(3) A member, other than the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman, shall be paid remuneration at the rate of $2,600 a year, or at such other rate as is fixed by the Parliament, and such allowances, other than an annual allowance, as are prescribed.\n\n“(4) An acting Chairman of the Commission (not being a full-time acting Chairman), or an acting Deputy Chairman of the Commission (not being a full-time acting Deputy Chairman), shall, in addition to the remuneration and allowances payable to him under sub-section (3), be paid such other allowances, if any, as are prescribed.\n\n“(5) In this section., unless the contrary intention appears—\n\n‘Chairman’ includes a full-time acting Chairman;\n\n‘Deputy Chairman’ includes a full-time acting Deputy Chairman;\n\n‘full-time acting Chairman’ means an acting Chairman of the Commission who is the Deputy Chairman of the Commission or any other acting Chairman who, under a term of his appointment as acting Chairman, is required to give the whole of his time to the duties of his office as acting Chairman.;\n\n‘full-time acting Deputy Chairman’ means an acting Deputy Chairman of the Commission who, under a term of his appointment as acting Deputy Chairman, is required to give the whole of his time to the duties of his office as acting Deputy Chairman.”.\n\nVacation of office.\n\n7. Section 11 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting in paragraph (a), after the word “Chairman”, the words “or the Deputy Chairman”.\n\nMeetings.\n\n8. Section 12 of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by inserting after sub-section (3) the following sub-section:—\n\n“(3a) In the event of the absence of the Chairman from a meeting of the Commission, being a meeting at which the Deputy Chairman is present, the Deputy Chairman shall preside at the meeting”;\n\n(b) by omitting from, sub-section (4) the words “the Chairman” and substituting the words “both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman”;\n\n(c) by omitting sub-section (5) and substituting the following sub\\-section :—\n\n“(5) At a meeting of the Commission, a quorum is constituted by not less than five members.”; and\n\n(d) by omitting sub-section (8) and substituting the following sub\\-section:—\n\n“(8) In this section—\n\n‘Chairman’ includes an acting Chairman of the Commission;\n\n  \n\n‘Deputy Chairman’ includes an acting Deputy Chairman of the Commission.”.\n\nOfficer of Public Service becoming Chairman or Deputy Chairman.\n\n9. Section 18 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after the word “Chairman” (wherever occurring) the words “or Deputy Chairman”.\n\nRegulations.\n\n10. Section 20 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting before the words “fees and allowances” the word “remuneration,”.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"other","section":"Section 4(c)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4(c) inserts 'the Deputy Chairman shall be appointed for a term not exceeding seven years' after 'seven years' in sub-section (4). This produces something like '...for a term not exceeding seven yearsthe Deputy Chairman shall be appointed for a term not exceeding seven years' — there is no separating punctuation (comma, semicolon, or full stop) prescribed, meaning the provision as it reads in the Principal Act after amendment is grammatically incoherent. A court would have to speculate whether these are two co-equal provisions or one mangled sentence. This is a drafting defect rather than deliberate policy.","confidence":0.72,"description":"Grammatical and structural defect in Deputy Chairman appointment term provision — the inserted words create an unpunctuated run-on sentence that fuses the Chairman's and Deputy Chairman's terms into a single sentence fragment without a full stop or separating punctuation, making the provision potentially ambiguous or inoperative as drafted."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Section 6 (new s.7(2))","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The Act creates the Deputy Chairman role and immediately requires remuneration, but for the period before 1 January 1975 relies entirely on a regulation being in place. If the Executive delays making the regulation, the Deputy Chairman is legally entitled to remuneration but the rate is unascertainable, creating an impossible payroll obligation and potential constitutional invalidity (s.66 Constitution concerns about uncertain parliamentary appropriation).","confidence":0.65,"description":"Retroactive impossibility: the Deputy Chairman's remuneration is to be 'as prescribed' until 1 January 1975, but the Act received Royal Assent on 12 December 1973 and there is no transitional provision ensuring regulations prescribing that rate exist or are made before that date. If no regulation is made, the Deputy Chairman has no ascertainable remuneration from the date of appointment until 1 January 1975."},{"type":"other","section":"Section 6 (new s.7(5))","severity":"low","reasoning":"The phrase 'In this section.,' and the closing '.;' on the full-time acting Chairman definition are clear typographical artefacts in the enrolled Act. While courts would likely read past them, they represent drafting errors that technically create ambiguity about the scope of the definitional subsection.","confidence":0.85,"description":"Typographical errors in the definition section: 'this section.,' contains a stray full stop before the comma, and the definition of 'full-time acting Chairman' closes with '.;' (a full stop followed by a semicolon) — internal punctuation errors that, while cosmetic, could affect how a court determines where one definition ends and another begins."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Section 5 (new s.6(3))","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 5 inserts s.6(3) which allows appointment of an acting Deputy Chairman only during 'inability to attend meetings.' Vacancy of office is a different legal concept from inability to attend. The original s.6 provisions for acting Chairman likely covered vacancy; the new Deputy Chairman provision does not mirror this, meaning a vacant Deputy Chairman role cannot be filled by an acting appointment under this section.","confidence":0.7,"description":"The acting Deputy Chairman provision only covers inability to attend meetings due to illness or otherwise, but the equivalent provision for an acting Chairman in the original Act likely covers a broader range of circumstances. More critically, there is no provision for an acting Deputy Chairman when the Deputy Chairman's office is vacant (as opposed to the Deputy Chairman merely being unable to attend meetings) — creating a gap where no acting appointment can be made if the Deputy Chairman dies or resigns."},{"type":"circular_definition","section":"Section 3(c) cross-referenced with Section 3(a) and 3(b)","severity":"low","reasoning":"The Principal Act was drafted with 'the Chairman' and 'the Commission' as defined terms (with the definite article). The amendment replaces these with 'Chairman' and 'Commission' (without definite articles). In Australian statutory interpretation this is likely harmless given s.23 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, but it does create a minor textual inconsistency in any unamended provisions of the Principal Act that still use 'the Chairman' or 'the Commission' as defined terms.","confidence":0.55,"description":"Circular definitional substitution: Section 3 inserts new definitions of 'Commission' and 'Chairman' while simultaneously omitting the old definitions of 'the Commission' and 'the Chairman'. The new definitions drop the definite article, but any existing provisions in the Principal Act that use 'the Commission' or 'the Chairman' (with the definite article as a defined term) may no longer match the new definitions, depending on how strictly the definitional substitution is construed."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 6 (new s.7(2)) — Deputy Chairman remuneration","section_b":"Section 6 (new s.7(4)) — Acting Deputy Chairman remuneration","confidence":0.75,"description":"Subsection (2) provides that the Deputy Chairman is paid remuneration at a rate fixed by Parliament (or prescribed until 1 January 1975) plus allowances other than an annual allowance. Subsection (4) provides that an acting Deputy Chairman who is NOT full-time shall be paid, IN ADDITION to remuneration under sub-section (3), such other allowances as prescribed. Sub-section (3) governs ordinary members, not the Deputy Chairman. This means a part-time acting Deputy Chairman is paid as an ordinary member plus extra allowances — potentially more or less than the substantive Deputy Chairman — creating a structural inconsistency in the remuneration hierarchy."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 6 (new s.7(5)) — definition of 'full-time acting Chairman'","section_b":"Section 6 (new s.7(4)) — remuneration of acting Chairman/Deputy Chairman","confidence":0.7,"description":"The definition of 'full-time acting Chairman' in sub-section (5) includes 'the Deputy Chairman of the Commission' automatically (by virtue of holding that office), meaning the Deputy Chairman acting as Chairman is always a 'full-time acting Chairman' and thus remunerated under sub-section (1) (Chairman's rates). However, sub-section (4) purports to set remuneration for an acting Chairman 'not being a full-time acting Chairman' as ordinary member rates plus allowances — implying the Deputy Chairman stepping up is excluded from sub-section (4) but included in sub-section (1). This is not a direct contradiction but creates confusion about whether the Deputy Chairman loses their sub-section (2) entitlements when acting as Chairman or instead receives sub-section (1) entitlements, with no provision for the overlap."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"Section 8(a) (new s.12(3a)) — Deputy Chairman presides in Chairman's absence","section_b":"Section 8(b) (amended s.12(4)) — member chosen to preside when both Chairman and Deputy Chairman absent","confidence":0.6,"description":"Section 8(a) inserts a provision that the Deputy Chairman shall preside when the Chairman is absent. Section 8(b) amends s.12(4) to deal with absence of both Chairman and Deputy Chairman. However, there is no provision for the situation where the Chairman is absent AND the Deputy Chairman is present but has been replaced by an acting Deputy Chairman — it is unclear whether the acting Deputy Chairman has the same presiding obligation as the substantive Deputy Chairman, since the s.12(8) definition of 'Deputy Chairman' includes an acting Deputy Chairman, but the mandatory presiding obligation in s.12(3a) may or may not extend to an acting Deputy Chairman depending on how the definition interacts with the operative provision."}]},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This amendment stays squarely within the original scope of the 1971 Principal Act. It makes structural and administrative changes to the Commission's governance — adding a Deputy Chairman, updating pay provisions, and refining meeting rules — but does not expand the Commission's functions, jurisdiction, or regulatory reach. The subject matter (oversight of advanced education) remains entirely unchanged."},"complexity_factors":["Amending legislation requiring cross-reference to the 1971 Principal Act to understand full effect","Multiple defined terms introduced and replaced (e.g., 'Chairman', 'Deputy Chairman', 'full-time acting Chairman', 'full-time acting Deputy Chairman')","Nested definitions within the remuneration section (s.7(5)) with internal qualification of who counts as 'Chairman' and 'Deputy Chairman'","Transitional provision creating a time-limited pay rule for the Deputy Chairman (until 1 January 1975)","Conditional remuneration logic distinguishing full-time vs part-time acting office holders"],"plain_english_summary":"## Commission on Advanced Education Act 1973 — Plain English Summary\n\nThis law makes a series of **administrative and structural amendments** to an existing body called the **Australian Commission on Advanced Education** (a government body established in 1971 to oversee non-university tertiary education, like colleges of advanced education — think TAFE-era institutions).\n\n### What does it actually do?\n\n- **Renames the Commission**: The body formerly known as the \"Australian Commission on Advanced Education\" is renamed to the **\"Commission on Advanced Education\"**. This is largely a branding/administrative change.\n\n- **Creates a new Deputy Chairman role**: The most substantive change is the formal addition of a **Deputy Chairman** position to the Commission's leadership structure. Before this, only a Chairman existed at the top. The Deputy Chairman:\n  - Is appointed for a term of up to **seven years**\n  - Has their own **pay rate** (set by Parliament, with a transitional prescribed rate until 1 January 1975)\n  - **Steps in to chair meetings** when the Chairman is absent\n  - Can have an **acting Deputy Chairman** appointed in their absence\n\n- **Updates remuneration rules**: The pay and allowances framework is updated to separately address:\n  - The Chairman\n  - The new Deputy Chairman\n  - Other members (set at $2,600 per year, unless Parliament fixes a different rate)\n  - Acting Chairmen and acting Deputy Chairmen (including whether they are \"full-time\" in that acting role)\n\n- **Updates meeting rules**: The quorum (minimum number of members needed to hold a valid meeting) is set at **five members**. The rules for who presides at meetings are updated to account for the new Deputy Chairman role.\n\n- **Public Service officers**: If a Commonwealth public servant is appointed as Chairman **or Deputy Chairman**, specific provisions of the Act apply to them (protecting their public service entitlements).\n\n- **Housekeeping**: Various defined terms are tidied up — for example, \"the Chairman\" and \"the Commission\" (with \"the\") are replaced with \"Chairman\" and \"Commission\" (without \"the\") throughout the principal Act.\n\n### Who does it affect?\n\n- The **members and leadership** of the Commission on Advanced Education\n- **Colleges of advanced education** that the Commission oversees\n- Indirectly, **students and institutions** in the advanced education sector, though no direct changes to funding or eligibility rules are made here\n\n### Why does it matter?\n\nThis is a modest but important piece of machinery legislation — it professionalises the Commission's governance by adding a deputy leadership position, ensuring continuity when the Chairman is unavailable and providing clearer pay structures. It reflects the growing importance of the advanced education sector in 1970s Australia."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/commission-on-advanced-education-act-1973","history":"/api/acts/commission-on-advanced-education-act-1973/history","analysis":"/api/acts/commission-on-advanced-education-act-1973/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/commission-on-advanced-education-act-1973/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/commission-on-advanced-education-act-1973/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/commission-on-advanced-education-act-1973/documents"}}