Bills Digest No. 55 2003-04
Aboriginal
Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Amendment
Bill 2003
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Aboriginal
Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Amendment
Bill 2003
Date Introduced: 17 September 2003
House: House
of Representatives
Portfolio: Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
Commencement: All items in this Bill
commence on the day the Act receives Royal Assent
This Bill makes a number
of amendments to the Aboriginal
Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986 (‘the Land Grant Act’). The amendments are designed to facilitate the
operation of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Council (‘the Council’).
Background
The Bill gives effect
to a request by the Council for legislative changes to certain administrative
requirements provided for in the Land Grant Act.
It makes the Council’s quorum requirements simpler to meet and
gives the Council more time to provide a copy of a by-law to the Minister. It also makes changes consequential upon the
Government’s establishment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services
(ATSIS) as a new agency within the Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous
Affairs portfolio.
The Council is established under the Land Grant Act. The functions of the Council are to hold title
to Aboriginal land, exercise powers as owners of Aboriginal land for the
benefit of the members of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community, make representations
to the Minister in relation to land that the Council considers should
become Aboriginal land, and other matters relevant to the Act.
Section 15 of the Land Grant Act provides for a Registrar
of the Council, and section 16 provides that the Registrar may delegate
his or her functions and powers. At
present the Registrar must be an officer of the Department of Immigration
and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) or the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and the powers of the Registrar
can only be delegated to a person who is an officer of DIMIA or ATSIC.
On 1 July 2003
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) was established
as a new agency within the Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous
Affairs portfolio. Its role is
to deliver to Indigenous people those programs previously provided by
ATSIC.
Sections 20-24 of the Land Grant Act provide for the
holding of annual general meetings and special general meetings of the
Council. At these meetings the Council elects its executive
members and deals with matters relating to its functions. Eligibility for membership of the Council is
also determined at meetings of the Council.
Sections 25 and 26A specify the quorum requirements for
meetings of the Council. Section
25 provides that the quorum at an annual general meeting or at a special
general meeting is constituted by a majority of members of the Council. This requirement has proven virtually impossible
to achieve.(1) Section
26A provides for a lesser quorum requirement where an annual general meeting
has been reconvened due to a failure to achieve a quorum at the initial
meeting within 60 minutes of the notified time of the meeting. The lesser requirement is 40% of the members
at the first reconvening of an annual general meeting, and, if it is necessary
to again reconvene due to a failure to achieve a quorum within 60 minutes
of the notified meeting time, 25% of the members at a subsequent reconvening
of the meeting. These lesser requirements
have also proved virtually impossible to achieve, making it difficult
for the Council to conduct meetings and urgent business.(2)
Under s.52A of the Land Grant Act the Council has power
to make by-laws governing matters of concern to the people of the Wreck
Bay Community, including cultural activities and declaration of sacred
sites. Under s.52A(10) the Council is required to provide
the Minister administering the Land Grant Act with a copy of any by-law
that it has made, within 7 days of making it.
The requirement that the by-law be provided to the Minister within
7 days has proven difficult to work with, particularly over public holiday
periods.(3)
The effect of item
5 of Schedule 1 of the Bill is to substitute
a new provision specifying persons who may hold the office of Registrar
of the Council. The new provision
would enable the Minister to appoint as Registrar an officer of ATSIS
or an officer of ATSIC.
The effect of item
6 of Schedule 1 of the Bill is to substitute
a new provision specifying persons to whom the Registrar may delegate
his or her functions or powers. The
new provision would enable delegation to an officer of ATSIS or an officer
of ATSIC.
Items 7, 9, and
11 of Schedule 1 of the
Bill operate to make the same quorum requirements
apply to all reconvened meetings of the Council, whether of an annual
general meeting or a special general meeting.
Items 8 and 10
of Schedule 1 of the Bill set the quorum
for a first and second reconvened meeting of the Council respectively. The quorum at a reconvened meeting is set at
40 registered members.
The period within which a copy of a by-law made by the
Council must be given to the Minister is extended to 21 days by item 12 of Schedule 1 to the Bill.
-
The Hon Philip Ruddock, MP House of Representatives,
Debates, 17
September 2003
p.20232, referring to advice from the Council.
-
ibid., again referring to advice from the
Council.
-
ibid.
Jennifer Nicholson
3 November 2003
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
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