On Fri 30.9.2016, the Minister for Social Services registered a legislative instrument: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) (Adult and Community Education Courses) Determination 2016 to satisfy the definition of “adult and community education course” in s195-1 of the GST Act.
The significance of this instrument is that it determines what ‘adult and community education courses’ are made GST-free under sis that s38-85 of the GST Act, which makes ‘education courses’ GST-free (and para (g) of the definition of ‘education course’ in s195-1 is ‘adult and community education courses’).
Also, this 2016 Instrument replaces A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) (Adult and Community Education Courses) Determination 2000 (which was due to expire on 1 October 2016).
The new Instrument is essentially the same as the previous one.
[Federal Register of Legislation – 2016 Instrument] [LTN 190, 30/9/16]
Definition of ‘adult and community education course’ (s195-1)
adult and community education course
means a course of study or instruction that is likely to add to the employment related skills of people undertaking the course and:
(a) is of a kind determined by the *Education Minister to be an adult and community education course and is provided by, or on behalf of, a body:
(i) that is a *higher education institution; or
(ii) that is recognised, by a State or Territory authority, as a provider of courses of a kind described in the determination; or
(iii) that is funded by a State or Territory on the basis that it is a provider of courses of a kind described in the determination; or
(b) is determined by the *Education Minister to be an adult and community education course.
Extract from the 2016 Instrument
5 Kind of courses determined to be adult and community education courses
(1) For paragraph (a) of the definition of adult and community education course in section 195-1 of the Act, a course of study or instruction of the kind mentioned in subsection 5(2) of this determination is determined to be an adult and community education course.
(2) For subsection 5(1) of this determination, the course of study or instruction must:
(a) not be a course mentioned, in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), (h), (i), (j) or (k) of the definition of education course in section 195-1 of the Act; and
(b) be a course that is available to adults in the general community; and
(c) not be a course that is provided by, or at the request of an employer to the employees of that employer; and
(d) not be a course that is provided by, or at the request of an organisation to the members of that organisation, except an organisation for which membership is open to adults in the general community; and
(e) not be a course that is provided by way of private tuition to an individual.