Page 447 - Week 02 - Thursday, 11 February 2021
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It is important to recognise the valuable contributions made by stakeholders to this bill. Their contributions support our ongoing efforts to improve the administration and operation of the territory’s laws. A significant feature of this bill is that it improves the protections and services for vulnerable persons in the territory. This has led to the amendments to the Guardianship and Management of Property Act 1991, the Powers of Attorney Act 2006 and the Public Trustee and Guardian Act 1985.
The amendments provide protections to principals under enduring powers of attorney who have decision-making capacity. This includes an obligation on attorneys to keep accurate records and accounts for these principals in property matters. This also includes providing statutory authorities, such as the Public Trustee and Guardian, powers to require attorneys to produce records of transactions made for principals. Together, these amendments will bolster the accountability of attorneys and means that principals enjoy more confidence in the administration of their affairs.
In the same spirit, there are improved services for persons with an interest in the affected person register and Youth Justice Victims Register. This is achieved by the amendments to the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 and Mental Health Act 2015. The registers recently transferred from the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Community Services Directorate to Victim Support ACT. This relocation occurred as part of the implementation of changes introduced by the Victims Rights Legislation Amendment Act 2020, which commenced on 1 January this year. The amendments will ensure that efficient and specialised services for the registers can be provided from one central location.
A further benefit of this bill is that it has identified opportunities to strengthen regulations in the territory. The bill amends the Legislation Act 2001 and the Public Sector Management Act 1994 to better regulate government and promote good governance. Its amendments bolster oversight over the regulation-making powers of the territory’s executive. They ensure that the responsible minister and Chief Minister must sign a statutory instrument if it is to be taken to be signed by the executive. They also overcome any practical inefficiencies of those amendments by allowing the responsible minister and Chief Minister to delegate their responsibility to sign a statutory instrument in certain circumstances.
Amendments to the Legal Profession Act 2006 regulate the legal profession more effectively, meaning protection for the community and better integrity of the territory’s legal profession. For example, persons who are or were a director of an incorporated legal practice under external administration must disclose this to relevant territory legal authorities. This amendment serves as another standard which persons seeking to practise or continue to practise law will meet.
An additional amendment to the Legal Profession Act 2006 requires territory law councils to erase the information of a deceased person from their registers of disciplinary action. This will protect the integrity of the registers and alleviate any distress to the families of deceased persons, as well as promoting the right to privacy.
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