4.1.1 The purpose of this chapter is to specify how the amount of regional loading payable to a provider under section 33-1(1)(b)(i) of the Act is calculated from 2012.
4.5 OBJECTIVE OF REGIONAL LOADING
4.5 OBJECTIVE OF REGIONAL LOADING
4.5.1 Regional loading provides additional funding under the Commonwealth Grant Scheme (CGS) to help providers offset the disparity in costs and revenue of regional campuses in comparison with major city campuses.
4.10 AMOUNT OF REGIONAL LOADING FROM 2012
4.10 AMOUNT OF REGIONAL LOADING FROM 2012
4.10.1 Regional loading payments to eligible providers are made in respect of a calendar year.
4.10.5 The total amount of regional loading available to all eligible providers in each year is fixed. In the 2012 calendar year, the total amount of regional loading is $63,559,565. The total amount of regional loading in later years is the total amount of regional loading in 2012 indexed in accordance with the method set out in Part 5-6 of the Act. For individual eligible providers, the amount of regional loading will be calculated in accordance with the formula set out in section 4.25 below.
4.15 ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF REGIONAL LOADING
4.15 ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF REGIONAL LOADING
4.15.1 A provider is eligible for regional loading if it is a Table A or Table B provider under section 16-15 of the Act.
4.15.3 A campus is eligible for regional loading if the average student load for the campus is a minimum of fifty (50) internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student EFTSL.
4.15.5 For the purposes of regional loading, Commonwealth supported student load at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education will be considered as Commonwealth supported student load at Charles Darwin University.
Average student load
4.15.10 The amount of regional loading for each eligible provider will be calculated using the most recent Commonwealth supported student load data for the reporting years as verified by the provider through the HESC and accepted by the Department.
4.15.15 The average student load for the purposes of regional loading is the EFTSL of the Commonwealth supported student load averaged over the most recent three years for which HESC full year student load data is available.
4.15.20 The calculation of average student load will be updated annually as new HESC full year student load data becomes available.
4.20 REGIONAL LOADING REMOTENESS CATEGORIES
4.20 REGIONAL LOADING REMOTENESS CATEGORIES
4.20.1 The regional loading for a multi campus provider is calculated per campus and depends upon the remoteness classification of each of the provider’s eligible campuses.
4.20.5 An eligible campus’ remoteness classification is determined using the ASGC Remoteness Structure for funding in 2012 and 2013 and the ASGS Remoteness Structure for funding from 2014 onwards to classify the remoteness of the physical location of the eligible campus.
4.20.10 The loading (L) for the remoteness categories is as follows:
Remoteness category
Loading (L)
Remote and very remote
20%
Darwin region
15%
Outer regional
10%
Inner regional
5%
Major city and overseas
0%
4.20.15 For purposes of regional loading, the Darwin region is defined as the area of the Northern Territory that is not remote or very remote.
4.20.20 For purposes of regional loading, the Darwin region has been classified outside of the ABS Remoteness Structure as the additional costs of higher education provision in this region exceed its remoteness category which is outer regional.
4.25 NEW REGIONAL LOADING DISTRIBUTION FORMULA
4.25 NEW REGIONAL LOADING DISTRIBUTION FORMULA
4.25.1 From 2012, the regional loading for eligible providers will be calculated using the following formula:
Image unavailable in extracted text
Image unavailable in extracted text = the regional loading for a provider (p)
Image unavailable in extracted text = the loading for the location of a provider’s eligible campus(c) according to section 4.20
Image unavailable in extracted text = the average student load based on the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load enrolled at the relevant eligible campus (c)
Image unavailable in extracted text = the loading for the location of a provider’s headquarters (h) campus according to section 4.20
Image unavailable in extracted text = the average student load based on the EFTSL of a provider’s (p) external Commonwealth supported student load
Image unavailable in extracted text = the variation required to ensure the expenditure is within the regional loading approved for that calendar year.
Detailed explanation of the formula
4.25.5 The formula has two components. The first is based on the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load of each of a provider’s eligible campuses. The second is based on the provider’s external Commonwealth supported student load.
4.25.10 The regional loading for the first component of the formula for a provider is calculated by multiplying the average student load of a provider’s internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load for each eligible campus by the remoteness loading (L) for the physical location of that eligible campus. The totals for each of a provider’s eligible campuses are added together to calculate the funding for the provider for the first component of the formula.
4.25.15 The regional loading for the second component of the formula for a provider is calculated by multiplying 50 per cent of the average student load of a provider’s external Commonwealth supported student load by the remoteness loading (L) for the provider’s headquarters campus. The headquarters campus is the campus that has the highest average student load based on the EFTSL of the average internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load.
4.25.20 As stated in section 4.10.5 above the regional loading is a capped amount for each calendar year. To ensure that the regional loading distributed in a calendar year does not exceed the regional loading approved for that year, the following process is used to adjust the final amount of regional loading to be paid to each eligible provider in a calendar year:
Initially the preliminary funding for each provider is calculated using the regional loading formula at section 4.25.1, above allowingImage unavailable in extracted text.
Then the preliminary funding amount for each provider is added to determine the interim regional loading total (Image unavailable in extracted text).
To establish the value of the variation (Image unavailable in extracted text) for determining the final regional loading amount, the regional loading available for the calendar year less any transitional support payment (Image unavailable in extracted text) is divided by the interim regional loading total (Image unavailable in extracted text).
To calculate the final amount of regional loading for each provider for the calendar year the formula in section 4.25.1 is reapplied using the value for Image unavailable in extracted text as determined in (c) above.
4.30 TRANSITIONAL SUPPORT IN 2012 AND 2013 FOR PROVIDERS AFFECTED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW REGIONAL LOADING FORMULA
4.30 TRANSITIONAL SUPPORT IN 2012 AND 2013 FOR PROVIDERS AFFECTED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW REGIONAL LOADING FORMULA
4.30.1 In 2012 and 2013 the Department will make transition payments from the regional loading available for those calendar years to providers who experience a significant reduction in regional loading as a result of the introduction of the new regional loading formula.
4.30.5 As the regional loading is a capped amount for a calendar year, the regional loading available for distribution through the formula in section 4.25.1 to eligible providers in 2012 and 2013 calendar years will be reduced to enable the making of the transition payments.
4.30.10 For the purposes of receiving a transition payment, a provider who experiences a significant reduction in regional loading under the new distribution formula is a provider:
who received regional loading in 2011; and
whose estimated regional loading for the 2012 and 2013 calendar years based on the application of the distribution formula at section 4.25.1 will be at least $500,000 less per calendar year than the regional loading received by that provider in 2011.
4.30.15 In 2012, the transition payment to be made to each affected provider will be 50 per cent of the difference between the amount of regional loading an affected provider received in 2011 and the amount of regional loading that the provider would receive under the new distribution formula in 2012.
4.30.20 In 2013, a further transition payment will be made from the 2013 regional loading to those providers that received a transition payment under section 4.30.15 in 2012.
4.30.25 In 2013, the transition payments to affected providers will be 25 per cent of the difference between the regional loading an affected provider received in 2011 and the amount of regional loading that the provider would receive under the new distribution formula in 2013.
4.30.30 The exact amounts of the transition payments to be made to affected providers will be as agreed in the funding agreements with providers under section 30-25 of the Act.
4.30.35 The payment of transition payments to affected providers in 2012 and 2013 will be in addition to any regional loading amount that an affected provider will receive on the basis of the regional loading formula in section 4.25.1.
4.35 DISTRIBUTION OF REGIONAL LOADING TO RECENTLY ESTABLISHED CAMPUSES
4.35 DISTRIBUTION OF REGIONAL LOADING TO RECENTLY ESTABLISHED CAMPUSES
4.35.1 As stated in section 4.15.15 the distribution of regional loading is based on the EFTSL
of the Commonwealth supported student load averaged over the most recent three years for which HESC full year student load data is available.
4.35.5 Where the available HESC full year student load data for a recently established campus is for less than three years the average student load will be determined on the basis of the EFTSL of the Commonwealth supported student load for the number of years for which the data is available.
4.35.10 A new campus of a provider will be considered an eligible campus on the basis of averaging the EFTSL of the internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load for the number of years for which the HESC full year student load data is available. Where this occurs, the campus must have an average internal and multi-modal Commonwealth supported student load of at least 50 EFTSL.
CHAPTER 5 MEDICAL STUDENT LOADING CHAPTER 5 MEDICAL STUDENT LOADING