REPUBLIC OF FIJI

NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT CENTRE (AMENDMENT) ACT 2017
ACT NO. 12 OF 2017 
I assent. 
J. K. KONROTE President 
[28 March 2017] 
AN ACT
TO AMEND THE NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT CENTRE ACT 2009 
ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji— 
Short title and commencement
1. — This Act may be cited as the National Employment Centre (Amendment) Act 2017. 
(2) This Act comes into force on a date or dates appointed by the Minister by notice in the Gazette. 
(3) In this Act, the National Employment Centre Act 2009 is referred to as the “Principal Act”. 
Section 5 amended
2. Section 5(1) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following new definition— 
	““Higher Education Commission” means the Higher Education Commission established under section 5 of the Higher Education Act 2008;” 
Section 18 amended
3. Section 18 of the Principal Act is amended by— 
	(a) deleting subsection (1)(g) and substituting the following— 
	“(g) to ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the employment creation policies of the Government, including a national employment policy, through the various employment creation services by way of effective facilitation, coordination and monitoring roles;”; and 
	(b) in subsection (5), deleting “chief executive officer or”. 
Section 25 amended
4. Section 25 of the Principal Act is amended by— 
	(a) in subsection (1)— 
	(i) deleting “chief executive officers, managers and”; and 
	(ii) deleting “Minister on a performance based contracts” and substituting “Permanent Secretary with the agreement of the Minister on a performance based contract”; and 
	(b) in subsection (2), inserting “Permanent Secretary with the agreement of the” before “Minister”. 
Section 29 amended
5. Section 29 of the Principal Act is amended by deleting “the host Ministers of the respective services” and substituting “the Minister responsible for civil service”. 
Section 47 amended
6. Section 47 of the Principal Act is amended by— 
	(a) in subsection (1), inserting “national, regional or international” after “with”; 
	(b) inserting the following new subsection after subsection (2)— 
	“(3) The National Employment Centre shall also secure strategic partnerships with— 
	(a) social security institutions; 
	(b) financial institutions and donor agencies; 
	(c) civil society organisations and religious institutions; 
	(d) national, regional or international information communications technology organisations; 
	(e) national, regional and international institutions dealing with sustainable development, environment and climate change matters for the purpose of capacity building and financing of green growth, green jobs and green productivity projects, including the promotion of green volunteers; 
	(f) national, regional and international institutions dealing with disability matters for the purpose of capacity building and financing of disability projects, including the absorption of persons with disabilities into employment and small and micro enterprise development; 
	(g) the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, the Ministry of Youth, the Ministry of Civil Service and the Office of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages under the Ministry of Justice; or 
	(h) The iTaukei Land Trust Board, the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, the Ministry of Provincial Development and mataqali land owners for the purpose of capacity building, cost sharing and relocation of a person back to the rural areas.” 
Section 70 amended
7. Section 70(5) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting “chief executive officer or”. 
Section 77 amended
8. Section 77(2) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting “Human Resource Management Division of the Public Service Commission to be the Fiji Volunteer Service” and substituting “Fiji Volunteer Service to be operated under or hosted by the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations”. 
Section 97 amended
9. Section 97(1) of the Principal Act is amended in paragraph (a) by inserting “professional counselling, aptitude assessment,” before “life”. 
Section 103 amended
10. Section 103 of the Principal Act is amended in subsections (1) and (4) by inserting “after consultation with the National Employment Centre Board” after “Board”. 
Passed by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji this 22nd day of March 2017.