Australian Immigration Daily News

Overview of the legislative instrument

The Financial Framework (Supplementary Powers) Amendment (Home Affairs Measures No. 5) Regulations 2023 amend Schedule 1AB to the FF(SP) Regulations to establish legislative authority for government spending on the Community Language Schools Grants Program (the program) which will be administered by the Department of Home Affairs.

The program is intended to strengthen the cohesion and prosperity of Australia’s multicultural society by supporting community language schools (CLS) to support more children in Australia to acquire a second language, specifically to:

• connect them to the languages of their parents, grandparents and broader communities; and
• enable their participation in a broader range of jobs in an economy closely integrated into a global market of diverse trading partners.

Eligible not-for-profit CLS across Australia will receive a one-off grant to expand the delivery of languages to more school-aged children from Kindergarten to year 12, and a supplementary payment for pre-schoolers. Grant money may only be used for school administration and operational costs, educational equipment and resources, appropriate venue hire, and teacher professional development.

Funding of $18.2 million over four years from 2022-23 will be available to the program.

Source: Financial-Framework-Supplementary-Powers-Amendment-Home-Affairs-Measures-No-5.pdf

and

Financial-Framework-Supplementary-Powers-Amendment-Home-Affairs-Measures-No-5-explanatory-statement.pdf