Page 4616 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 6 December 1994
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Clause 9
MRS CARNELL (Leader of the Opposition) (9.38): I move:
Page 5, lines 14 to 16, subclause (3), omit the subclause, substitute the following subclause:
"(3) The Minister shall ensure that a copy of each code of practice is -
(a) given to each licensee who is likely to be affected by the code; and
(b) made available for public inspection during office hours at the place or places specified in the notice under subsection (1).".
Clause 9 requires codes of practice to be published in the Gazette and the local daily newspaper. Our amendment provides for a requirement to inform all licensees directly of such codes by posting a copy of the code to them. That is not a great deal to ask, I would have thought. An argument has been put to us, though, that if the code of practice is very big it will be too much of a hassle to send it out to all licensees. Our response is that, if the code of practice is very big, then that is all the more reason why it needs to be posted out to all licensees. The thought that a very big code of practice could be published in the Gazette or in the local daily newspaper, which is currently what it says in the legislation, is simply ridiculous.
Informing licensees of the rules by which they must conduct their business far outweighs any inconvenience that may arise from the distribution of such a code. Obviously, one of the ways that this sort of legislation is going to work is if the people who are involved - that is, the beauty therapists, the tattooists and the other people involved in skin penetration that falls under this legislation - are actually aware of the code of practice that they are supposed to be guided by in their practice. If they do not happen to read daily newspapers, and of course many people in Canberra do not, or alternatively if they do not read the Gazette, and even more people do not read the Gazette, they obviously just will not know about it. On the whole, these people are not organised into very formal groups. They tend to be individual operators operating on their own out there in the community. There is every chance that, unless the department is willing to send out this information, or any changes in the code, directly to the people who hold licences, then they simply will not know about them. It is a safeguard for the community. It is also a safeguard for the people who are attempting to enforce that code.
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General and Minister for Health) (9.41): Madam Speaker, Mrs Carnell proposes an interesting concept. She now adopts a new principle - that whenever a code of practice is to be developed the department concerned is required to send a copy of the code of practice by post to every participant in the industry, notwithstanding the fact that the code is the very subordinate governing instrument, below the Act and below any regulations, and there is no requirement to post out copies of an Act and there is no requirement to post out copies of regulations. But we are about
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