Page 5608 - Week 17 - Thursday, 5 December 1991
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I have taken some time to sketch out the context in which this Bill should be seen because, although it represents in itself a relatively minor and technical amendment of the Public Trustee Act, it is in fact an aspect of a much broader and more complex policy development and law reform process which has been some years in the making.
If I may now turn briefly to the specifics of the Bill, you will see that it provides for the inclusion of the Public Trustee in the class of public authorities which are required under the Audit Act 1989 to keep accounts on a commercial basis, and removes the Public Trustee from the class it is in at present, which is not so required. This step is made necessary by the reforms to the Public Trustee.
As the Public Trustee moves to budget independence and a more commercial basis of operations, it is appropriate that the Public Trustee be required to account for the activities of the office in the more stringent form required of commercial operations. That will impose a small additional burden on the office, but it is the proper trade-off for the increased independence of the Public Trustee's Office and its increased freedom to operate commercially, which have been the objectives of the reforms.
I now present the explanatory memorandum for the Bill.
Debate (on motion by Dr Kinloch) adjourned.
LEGAL PRACTITIONERS (AMENDMENT) BILL (NO. 3) 1991
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (11.00): Mr Speaker, I present the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill (No. 3) 1991. I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
The Bill amends the Legal Practitioners Act 1970, which deals with matters relating to the legal profession. It is essentially a machinery measure with three predominant themes: The updating of references to the Solicitors Mutual Indemnity Fund; providing for the remuneration of the secretary to the disciplinary committee of the Law Society; and a general review of penalties in the Act.
The first theme is that the Bill will update references to the Solicitors Mutual Indemnity Fund. The Act prevents the issue of an unrestricted practising certificate to a solicitor unless the solicitor has paid the required indemnity fund contribution. The purpose of the fund is to
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