{"id":"C2004A03223","name":"Home and Community Care Act 1985","slug":"home-and-community-care-act-1985","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"184 of 1985","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":7381,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A03223-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Home and Community Care Act 1985.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act shall come into operation, or shall be deemed to have come into operation, on the day on which the Home and Community Care (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1985 receives or received the Royal Assent.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Grants for home and community care services","content":"#### 3 Grants for home and community care services\n\n  (1) Where an agreement has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, been entered into between the Commonwealth and a State, being an agreement that is substantially in accordance with the form set out in the Schedule, the Minister may, by writing, authorise payments (including advances) to be made to that State, by way of financial assistance to that State, in accordance with that agreement.\n  (2) A reference in subsection (1) to an agreement that has been entered into between the Commonwealth and a State includes a reference to that agreement as varied, in accordance with the provisions of that agreement, by a further agreement a copy of which has been laid before each House of the Parliament as required by the first‑mentioned agreement.\n  (3) An amount repayable by a State to the Commonwealth in accordance with a provision of an agreement referred to in subsection (1) is a debt due by the State to the Commonwealth.\n  (4) In this section, State includes the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Appropriation","content":"#### 4 Appropriation\n\n  Payments (including advances) under this Act shall be made out of money appropriated from time to time by the Parliament for the purpose.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Delegation","content":"#### 5 Delegation\n\n  (1) The Minister may, by writing, either generally or as otherwise provided by the instrument of delegation, delegate to any officer of the Department or to a person performing the duties of an office in the Department all or any of the Minister’s powers under this Act, other than this power of delegation.\n  (2) A power so delegated, when exercised by the delegate, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been exercised by the Minister.\n  (3) A delegation of a power under this section does not prevent the exercise of the power by the Minister.","sortOrder":4}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This appears to be the original 1985 Act. The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: creating a statutory mechanism for Commonwealth financial assistance to states/territories for home and community care services. The scope has not expanded beyond this core funding framework."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute — only 5 operative sections plus short title and commencement","Minimal defined terms — only one explicit definition ('State' includes territories)","No cross-references to other Acts except the related amending Act in the commencement provision","Simple conditional structure — single trigger (agreement in Schedule form) leading to payment authorisation","No exceptions, exemptions, or nested conditions","Straightforward delegation mechanism without elaborate safeguards or reporting requirements"],"plain_english_summary":"This law sets up a system where the Australian federal government gives money to states and territories to help pay for home and community care services — things like aged care, disability support, and other help that lets people stay in their homes rather than institutions.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Authorises funding agreements**: The federal Minister can sign deals with states/territories (including ACT and NT) that follow a standard template in the Schedule. These deals let the Commonwealth pay money to the states to run services.\n- **Allows for advances**: The Minister can pay money upfront, not just reimburse costs later.\n- **Makes debts recoverable**: If a state has to pay money back under the agreement, that debt is legally enforceable.\n- **Covers territories**: The law explicitly treats the ACT and Northern Territory as \"States\" for these purposes.\n- **Provides the money**: Parliament must appropriate (set aside) funds for these payments.\n- **Lets the Minister delegate**: The Minister can hand over decision-making powers to senior public servants, but keeps the final say.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- State and territory governments (who receive the funding)\n- People who use home and community care services (indirectly — the law doesn't create rights for them, but enables the services)\n- Commonwealth public servants who administer the program\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is the legal engine behind Australia's home care system. Without it, the federal government couldn't legally transfer money to states for these services. It's essentially a \"money pipeline\" law with some basic rules about how that pipeline works."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The text itself establishes grant-making, repayment and delegation mechanics; it does not record any substantive expansion or narrowing of scope within the Act. It creates an authority to make payments under specified agreements, requires appropriation, treats repayments as debts and permits delegation, without altering those core functions elsewhere in the instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Short, focused statute with only five sections and limited subject-matter (low textual complexity).","Reliance on intergovernmental agreements 'substantially in accordance with the form set out in the Schedule' creates external dependency on the Schedule and on contract terms (s 3).","Procedure for variation of agreements and requirement to lay copies before each House links statute to parliamentary and administrative processes (s 3(2)).","Legal effect of repayment obligations: amounts repayable by a State are debts due to the Commonwealth, with implications for enforcement and state finances (s 3(3)).","Appropriation dependence means payments require parliamentary funding each year, adding a fiscal control layer (s 4).","Broad delegation power permits the Minister to delegate most functions to departmental officers, concentrating operational discretion in the executive and bureaucracy (s 5).","Inclusion of territories in 'State' extends application beyond states to the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory (s 3(4))."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act lets the Commonwealth Minister make payments to States for home and community care where there is an agreement substantially in the Schedule (s 3). Payments must come from parliamentary appropriations (s 4); sums a State must repay are debts to the Commonwealth (s 3(3)). The Minister can delegate most powers to departmental officers (s 5) while remaining able to exercise those powers. It therefore governs who pays, who decides and how repayment and delegation work for funded care services."},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act appears tightly focused on its original purpose: enabling Commonwealth grants to states and territories for home and community care services. There are no provisions that appear to extend beyond that narrow funding-facilitation role. The inclusion of territories in the definition of 'State' is a standard administrative extension, not a scope change."},"complexity_factors":["Short and structurally simple — only 5 operative sections","Relies on external agreements (Schedules and state/Commonwealth compacts) that are incorporated by reference, adding a layer of indirect complexity","Includes a minor jurisdictional nuance: the extended definition of 'State' to include territories","Delegation provisions introduce a standard but technical concept (ministerial delegation) that may confuse lay readers","The variation-of-agreements clause (s3(2)) requires understanding of how parliamentary tabling requirements interact with agreement amendments"],"plain_english_summary":"The Act enables the Commonwealth to fund state and territory delivery of home and community care—support like nursing, meals, domestic help and respite that helps older people, people with disability and their carers stay at home. Funding flows under formal agreements and approved parliamentary appropriations; repayment obligations to the Commonwealth become legal debts. It affects ordinary service users, state/territory governments and local providers and allows the Minister to delegate decision-making while retaining authority."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/home-and-community-care-act-1985","history":"/api/acts/home-and-community-care-act-1985/history","analysis":"/api/acts/home-and-community-care-act-1985/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/home-and-community-care-act-1985/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/home-and-community-care-act-1985/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/home-and-community-care-act-1985/documents"}}