Page 820 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 20 April 2021
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Section 251 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 is amended in schedule 1 to disapply the Legislation Act 2001 section 47(3) and (6) in relation to a commonwealth law or an ACT enterprise agreement applied, adopted or incorporated in a management standard. The management standards under the Public Sector Management Standards 2016 incorporate the terms of ACT enterprise agreements in relation to superannuation and other entitlements of certain public servants and statutory office holders.
The displacement of section 47(3) ensures that the enterprise agreements and any relevant commonwealth laws apply as in force from time to time. Further, section 47(6) is displaced because both commonwealth laws and ACT enterprise agreements are readily accessible on the internet and the ACT government intranet and there is therefore no need for them to be published on the legislation register.
An amendment is also made to the Workers Compensation Act 1951 section 75(3) to update an outdated cross-reference. Section 75 sets out how to work out the costs in relation to compensation payable by an employer of taking an injured worker by private motor vehicle to and from a place to receive medical treatment or rehabilitation services. Subsection (3) contains a reference to an amount mentioned in the commonwealth Income Tax Assessment Regulations 1997. However, the cross-reference is outdated as this amount is now determined by the Commissioner of Taxation in a legislative instrument.
Schedule 2 of the bill is reserved for minor, non-controversial amendments of the Legislation Act 2001 initiated by the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office. The amendments will omit redundant examples and notes, correct cross-references and omit redundant schedule items.
Finally, schedule 3 of the bill includes amendments of acts and regulations that have been reviewed as part of an ongoing program of updating and improving the language and form of legislation. These amendments are explained in the explanatory notes and are routine, technical matters such as the correction of minor errors, updating language, adding or omitting notes, and removing redundant provisions.
Of particular note are the amendments to remove a standard provision about approved forms from some acts and regulations that have not been used or no longer use approved forms. While originally the publication of approved forms on the legislation register increased their accessibility this is no longer necessarily the best location for them. Many government agencies now have their own websites and make their forms available directly there. Additionally, forms that are of an interactive smart nature and feed information directly into agency databases cannot be hosted on the legislation register.
The bill, while minor and technical in nature, is another important building block in the development of a modern and accessible ACT statute book that is at the forefront in Australia. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Ms Lee) adjourned to the next sitting.
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