BILLS DIGEST NO. 105, 2015–16              2 April 2016

Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2016

Claire Petrie
Law and Bills Digest Section 

Date introduced: 17 March 2016

House:  House of Representatives

Portfolio: Attorney-General

Commencement: Sections 1 to 3 commence on Royal Assent. Schedules 1, 3, 4 and 5 commence on the 28th day after Royal Assent. Items in Schedule 2 commence retrospectively, in line with the intended commencement of the provisions that Schedule 2 is correcting.

Links: The links to the Bill, its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the Bill’s home page, or through the Australian Parliament website.

When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent, they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation website.

All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as at April 2016.

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of the Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2016 (the Bill) is to correct technical errors, repeal obsolete and spent provisions and Acts and update references to departments and ministers occurring in statutes. The purpose of statute law revision is to enhance the clarity and efficient use of the statute book.

Structure of the Bill

The Bill contains five schedules:

•       Schedule 1 amends technical and other errors in 15 principal Acts

•       Schedule 2 fixes technical and other errors in four amending Acts

•       Schedule 3 makes technical amendments to the Public Lending Right Act 1985[1]

•       Schedule 4 repeals spent and obsolete parts of the International Labour Organisation (Compliance with Conventions) Act 1992[2]

•       Schedule 5 repeals the Forestry Marketing and Research and Development Services (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2007.[3]

Background

The Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia, Josh Frydenberg, noted in his second reading speech that the Bill ‘continues the work of maintaining and improving the quality of the Commonwealth statute book’.[4] The Bill was introduced at the same time as the Statute Update Bill 2016,[5] with both aimed at improving the accuracy and currency of Commonwealth legislation. In the current Parliament, Statute Law Revision Bills have been introduced as part of a regular ‘Repeal Day’ package primarily aimed at reducing regulatory red tape. In February 2016, the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Dr Peter Hendy, noted that under the Government’s new regulatory reform agenda, repeal days will be replaced with annual reports assessing the Government’s performance in repealing legislation and outlining a course for reform over the coming year.[6] 

Statute Law Revision Acts and Statute Stocktake Acts have been passed on a regular basis since 1934 as a means of cutting ‘dead wood’ from the statute book and correcting mistakes in drafting.[7] They are traditionally non-controversial and regarded as an ‘essential tool in the process of keeping orderly, accurate and up-to-date Commonwealth statute books’.[8]

Committee consideration

Senate Standing Committee for the Selection of Bills

At its 17 March 2016 meeting, the Senate Standing Committee for the Selection of Bills deferred consideration of the Bill until its next meeting.[9]

Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills

To date, the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills has not commented on the Bill.

Policy position of non-government parties/independents

It would appear that there has been no comment on the Bill by non-government parties or independents to date. Shadow Minister for Finance, Tony Burke, has noted that in relation to the series of ‘Repeal Days’ undertaken in the current Parliament:

… the Government removed 40 hyphens, one comma and one inverted comma; changed two full stops to semi-colons, one semi-colon to a full stop; and inserted two commas, one full stop, one colon and one hyphen.

But there has been a more serious and consequential side to the Government’s red tape agenda.

Under the smokescreen of “red tape” the Government has tried to water down consumer protections through attempts to amend the Future of Financial Advice reforms, and cut the wages of cleaners through the abolition of the Commonwealth Cleaning Services Guidelines.[10]

Financial implications

The Explanatory Memorandum states that the Bill will have no financial impact.[11]

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth), the Government has assessed the Bill’s compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The Government considers that the Bill is compatible.[12]

Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has not made any comment on the Bill to date.

Key issues and provisions

Schedule 1 — Amendments of principal Acts

Part 1 of Schedule 1 (items 1 to 34) proposes minor amendments to 14 principal Acts to:

•       fix incorrect citations, incorrect cross-references and references to incorrect concepts

•       correct typographical, grammatical and numbering errors

•       remove redundant words, headings and subsections and

•       update phrasing in line with current drafting practice.

Part 2 of Schedule 1 (item 35) amends a number of provisions of the My Health Records Act 2012 to correct typographical errors within the Act.[13]

Schedule 2 — Amendment of amending Acts

Schedule 2 (items 1 to 4) proposes minor amendments to four amending Acts to fix misdescribed amendments and incorrect citations. The amendments will enable the relevant provisions of these amending Acts to take effect retrospectively, from the intended date of commencement of the original amending provision.

Item 1 corrects a misdescribed amendment in the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Amendment Act 2015 (2015 Amending Act), which purported to repeal and substitute paragraph 42(2)(b) of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998, but did not include the actual instruction to repeal and substitute the paragraph.[14] Item 1 inserts this instruction. The item commences retrospectively on 8 October 2015, which is the date of commencement of the 2015 Amending Act.

Item 2 repeals an item heading in the Indirect Tax Laws Amendment (Assessment) Act 2012 which purported to amend a non-existent subsection in the Customs Act 1901.[15] Item 2 inserts the correct subsection to be amended. It commences retrospectively on 1 July 2012.

Item 3 removes an incorrect citation of a short title of an Act in the commencement provision of the Migration Amendment (Temporary Sponsored Visas) Act 2013 and substitutes the correct title.[16] It commences retrospectively on 29 June 2013.

Item 4 corrects a minor misdescribed amendment in the Tax Laws Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Act 2010.[17] It commences retrospectively on 17 December 2010.

Schedule 3 — References to specific Ministers and Departments

Schedule 3 amends the Public Lending Right Act 1985 to replace references to the Attorney-General and Attorney-General’s Department with generic references to the Minister and Department administering the Copyright Act 1968.[18]

Previously, section 19BA of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 provided that the Governor-General could make an order directing that a statutory provision referring to a particular Minister of State would have effect as if the provision referred to a Minister or Ministers specified in the order.[19] Relevantly, the Acts Interpretation (Substituted References—Section 19BA) Order 2004 substitutes references to the Attorney-General’s Department in paragraph 9(1)(e) of the Public Lending Right Act with the Department of Communications and the Arts, and references to the Attorney-General in subsections 9(1) and 9(6) with the Minister for Communications.[20]

Section 19BA was repealed by the Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Act 2015, which substituted new sections 19 to 19D into the Acts Interpretation Act.[21] New section 19 provides that where a provision of an Act refers to a Minister by title, the Minister referred to is any other Minister administering the Department that deals with the relevant matters on the relevant day.[22] Similarly, new section 19A provides that where a provision of an Act refers to a Department by title, the Department referred to is the Department that deals with the relevant matters on the relevant day. Therefore, whilst the amendments made by Schedule 3 clarify the operation of the relevant provisions, they do not have substantive effect.

Part 2 of Schedule 3 contains transitional, saving and application provisions. 

Schedule 4 — Repeals of spent and obsolete provisions

Schedule 4 repeals spent and obsolete provisions in two Acts. Item 1 repeals Parts 3 and 4 of the International Labour Organisation (Compliance with Conventions) Act 1992 (ILC Act). These Parts amended the Migration Act 1958 and Navigation Act 1912 on the date that the ILC Act received Royal Assent, and were subsequently spent.

Items 2 to 4 repeal spent provisions and definitions within the National Health Act 1953.[23]

Schedule 5 — Repeals of amending Acts

Schedule 5, item 1, repeals the whole of the Forestry Marketing and Research and Development Services (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2007. This Act provided for the transfer of assets, liabilities and employee arrangements of the defunct Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation (FWPRDC) to its successor organisation, Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA). The Explanatory Memorandum states that all of these transitional arrangements have now taken effect and there are no outstanding assets, liabilities or employees to be transferred under the Act.[24] As such, the substantive provisions of the Act have been spent.

Item 2 provides that the repeal of the Act does not affect the continuing operation of any application, saving or transitional provisions.

Concluding comments

The Bill corrects minor and non-substantive errors occurring in Commonwealth statutes and repeals obsolete provisions and Acts. It also makes corrections to amending Acts to ensure the amendments contained in these Acts take effect. This forms part of an ongoing process of all governments to ensure the clarity, accuracy and currency of legislation and as such, it is unlikely to be controversial.

Members, Senators and Parliamentary staff can obtain further information from the Parliamentary Library on (02) 6277 2500.

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[1].              Public Lending Right Act 1985.

[2].              International Labour Organisation (Compliance with Conventions) Act 1992.

[3].              Forestry Marketing and Research and Development Services (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2007.

[4].              J Frydenberg, ‘Second reading speech: Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2016’, House of Representatives, Debates, (proof), 17 March 2016, p. 4.

[5].              Parliament of Australia, ‘Statute Update Bill 2016 homepage’, Australian Parliament website.

[6].              P Hendy, ‘Spent rules have no place in an innovation nation’, The Australian, 4 February 2016, p. 12; L Ferris, Omnibus Repeal Day (Spring 2015) Bill 2015, Bills digest, 81, 2015–16, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2016, p. 2.

[7].              See: M Coombs, Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 3) 2015, Bills digest, 58, 2015–16, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2015; C Petrie, Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2015, Bills digest, 90, 2014–15, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2015; J Murphy, Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2014, Bills digest, 48, 2014–15, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2014.

[8].              D Spooner, Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2010, Bills digest, 60, 2010–11, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2011, p. 2.

[9].              Senate Standing Committee for the Selection of Bills, Report, 4, 2016, The Senate, Canberra, 17 March 2016.

[10].              T Burke (Shadow Minister for Finance), The war on punctuation is over, media release, 4 February 2016.

[11].              Explanatory Memorandum, Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 2) 2016, p. 2.

[12].              The Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found at page 3 of the Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill.

[13].              My Health Records Act 2012.

[14].              Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Amendment Act 2015; Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998.

[15].              Indirect Tax Laws Amendment (Assessment) Act 2012; Customs Act 1901.

[16].              Migration Amendment (Temporary Sponsored Visas) Act 2013.

[17].              Tax Laws Amendment (Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information) Act 2010.

[18].              Public Lending Right Act 1985; Copyright Act 1968.

[19].              Acts Interpretation Act 1901, section 19BA (superseded version).

[20].              Acts Interpretation (Substituted References—Section 19BA) Order 2004, Schedule 1, Part 5, item 3 and Schedule 2, Part 3, item 3.

[21].              Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Act 2015, Schedule 2, clause 3.

[22].              Acts Interpretation Act 1901, section 19.

[23].              National Health Act 1953.

[24].              Explanatory Memorandum, p. 14.