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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (23 May) . . Page.. 1638 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

and generator of revenue in such a competitive environment, there is a need for ACTTAB to perform on a commercial basis and become proactive in the marketplace. There are financial and administrative changes to its operation which are needed to allow it to do this, and some of these changes are reflected in these Bills.

To give effect to the corporatisation of ACTTAB, two Bills have been prepared. They are the Betting (Corporatisation) (Consequential Provisions) Bill 1996, hereafter referred to as the provisions Bill, and the Betting (Corporatisation) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 1996, hereafter referred to as the amendments Bill. The contents of these two Bills provide for the board to be corporatised by transferring rights and liabilities from the board to the new corporation; for the transfer of various regulatory functions from the board to the Territory; for transitional matters; and for the consequential amendment of a number of Territory enactments.

The provisions Bill facilitates the corporatisation of the board by providing, amongst other things, for the following matters: The transfer of rights and liabilities from the board to the new company known as ACTTAB Ltd - the company - or, in certain circumstances, to the Territory; the substitution of the company or the Territory for the board in certain contracts, agreements or arrangements; the continuation of proceedings by or against the board which had arisen before 1 July 1996 but had not been instituted or had been instituted before that day but had not been completed; the amendment of relevant registers by the Registrar-General to reflect changes in title to an interest in land which has become vested in the company or the Territory; the terms and conditions of employment for ACTTAB staff will be preserved upon corporatisation.

The step of corporatisation is not intended to be an exercise in changing these conditions. This is consistent with the Australian Industrial Relations Act 1988, to the extent that the relevant industrial awards, including the current certified agreement, are binding on the new corporation as an employer. The relevant awards and the certified agreement will apply to existing and new employees. ACTTAB, like other organisations, can negotiate changes to awards and agreements within the industrial relations framework and can implement such changes after corporatisation. A further feature of the provisions Bill is a provision which enables regulations to be made during a 12-month period to modify any other enactment or subordinate law necessary as a consequence of the corporatisation. This modification power expires on 1 July 1997.

The amendments Bill amends the following Territory enactments as a consequence of the corporatisation of the board: The Betting (Totalizator Administration) Act 1964; the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994; and the Territory Owned Corporations Act 1990. This Bill also contains transitional provisions to ensure that after 1 July 1996 certain actions taken prior to that date continue to have effect. This will facilitate an orderly administrative change and negate the need for such actions to be commenced anew.

The Bill eliminates the direct funding linkages between ACTTAB, the race clubs and the ACT Racecourse Development Fund. These arrangements have previously been a legislative encumbrance to ACTTAB's operations and not a situation generally experienced by commercial ventures. The Bills vary the purposes of the former

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