Page 52 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 16 February 1993
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The Attorney-General's Department in the ACT is in the process of putting that body of laws onto a computer database. That will significantly simplify the process of modernisation and simplification. For example, it will allow us to do an electronic word search to pick up where "he", "his" or other sexist or gender specific words appear. At the moment it is a quite difficult process to guarantee that in any of the old Acts you have picked up every sexist term. This process will be ongoing. I can never guarantee, and I do not think any government could ever guarantee, that we have got it right; but at least we are moving in the right direction.
Madam Speaker, as the Opposition's only concern was the principle of whether one should have omnibus legislation, and as I have answered that, I thank the Opposition for their general support for the procedural reforms, the tidying up, that we are achieving by passage of this Bill. There is a corrigendum to the explanatory memorandum. The Scrutiny of Bills Committee, in its report No. 21, picked up an error in the explanatory memorandum. The memorandum, on page 10, refers to a series of interim planning amendment Acts which are repealed pursuant to Schedule 2 of the Bill. A reference to an Interim Planning (Amendment) Act (No. 3) 1991 has been erroneously included in this reference, and the corrigendum corrects that. I am sure that only Professor Whalan would have had the eagle eye to pick that up. I table that corrigendum.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail Stage
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (8.19): I ask for leave to move four amendments to Schedule 1 together.
Leave granted.
MR CONNOLLY: Madam Speaker, I present a supplementary explanatory memorandum and move:
Schedule 1 (amendment of Artificial Conception Act 1985), page 25, omit the reference to the Act and the amendment.
Schedule 1 (amendment of Birth (Equality of Status) Act 1988), page 29, omit the reference to the Act and the amendment.
Schedule 1 (amendment of Children's Services Act 1986), subsection 4(1) (definition of "adopting parent", paragraph (a)), page 32, omit the amendment.
Schedule 1 (amendment of Testamentary Guardianship Act 1984), page 48, omit the reference to the Act and the amendment.
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