Bills Digest No. 150 2001-02
Statute Law Revision Bill 2002
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
Statute
Law Revision Bill 2002
Date Introduced:
16 May 2002
House:
House of Representatives
Portfolio:
Attorney-General
Commencement: Each
item in Schedule 1 commences at the time specified in column 2. Each item
in Schedule 2 commences when the amending Act commenced. There are various
commencement dates because the commencement of each item is tied to the
commencement of the provision that created the error. All other amendments
commence on Royal Assent.
Purpose
To correct technical errors such
as misspellings, punctuation errors, numbering errors and incorrect cross-references
that have occurred in Acts as a result of drafting and clerical mistakes.
A statute law revision bill was first introduced in the
Commonwealth Parliament by the Fraser Government in 1981. The then Attorney-General,
Senator the Hon Peter Durack, explained in his second reading speech that:
The Government has decided to introduce
Statute Law Revision Bills into the Parliament on a regular basis,
at least once in each year and, if required, once in each sitting.
This will enable the prompt correction of mistakes and errors and
removal from the statute book of expired laws. In the absence of the
regular passage of Bills of this kind, the correction of an error
in an Act can only be achieved by having a special Bill passed for
that purpose or waiting until the Act needs to be amended for some
other more important purpose.(1)
The then Opposition supported the introduction of the
Statute Law Revision Bill process. In the second reading debate the then
Shadow Attorney-General, Senator the Hon Gareth Evans said:
The Statute Law Revision Bill is a
fascinating Bill, for the contents of which the Government is to be
much congratulated. … The first innovation is the very existence of
the Bill as a vehicle – a compendious vehicle – for tidying up oversights,
errors and oddities that creep into even the best laid drafting plans
and also to accommodate minor changes that become necessary because
of changing circumstances. The Opposition notes that it is the Government’s
intention to introduce housekeeping Bills of this kind at least once
each year, and perhaps every sitting. I, for one, certainly applaud
that as a rational legislative measure aiding in the avoidance of
the unnecessary cluttering of the parliamentary process with what
are on any view small issues most of the time.(2)
Since 1981 there have been a number of Statute Law Revision
Bills, the most recent being in 1999.(3)
The Bill has two Schedules. Schedule 1 amends errors
in 20 Principal Acts, whereas Schedule 2 amends misdescriptions in 23
amending Acts. The commencement date of each item is tied to the commencement
of the provision that created the error. The effect of this process is
that the error is taken to have been corrected immediately after it was
made. According to the Explanatory Memorandum, none of the amendments
proposed by either Schedule will alter the content of the law.(4)
Main
Provisions
Due to the nature of the amendments proposed by this
Bill, the Bills Digest does not provide an item by item analysis. However,
Members, Senators and Parliamentary staff who wish to have an analysis
of specific provisions should contact the Law and Bills Digest Group on
(02) 6277 2526.
- Sen the Hon Peter Durack, ‘Second Reading Speech’, Statute Law Revision
Bill, House of Representatives, Debates, 27 May 1981, p. 2166.
- Sen the Hon Gareth Evans, op.cit., 28 May 1981, p. 2308.
- Statute Stocktake Bill 1999.
- Explanatory Memorandum, Statute Law Revision Bill 2002, p.
3 (paragraphs 8 and 15).
Rosemary Bell
29 May 2002
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared for general distribution to Senators and
Members of the Australian Parliament. While great care is taken to ensure
that the paper is accurate and balanced, the paper is written using information
publicly available at the time of production. The views expressed are
those of the author and should not be attributed to the Information and
Research Services (IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues
contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and
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or Australian government document.
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with Senators and Members and their staff but not with members of the
public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2002
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 2002.
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