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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 04 Hansard (Tuesday, 30 March 2004) . . Page.. 1361 ..

introduced and debated in a different order than was originally anticipated. I have no difficulties with the amendments but they have arrived incredibly late. I hope that the government does not continue this process of taking the Assembly for granted. But, overall, I have no serious concerns with the bill and will be supporting it.

MS TUCKER (9.50): The Greens will be supporting this bill and the government amendments. It seems fairly clear that it is an omnibus bill that plugs the gaps in a number of areas. It corrects a drafting error in the Agents Act and amends the Consumer Credit Act to allow for future amendments to consumer credit regulations. It amends the Cooperatives Act so that the CEO can appoint the registrar and adds an offence where a body fails to lodge particulars. It amends the Cooperatives Regulations to specify the Commonwealth law under which a co-operative may become registered.

It removes sections of the Cooperatives Act made ineffective by the Criminal Code 2002 and corrects a technical error in the Magistrates Court Act. It amends the Protection Orders Act to remove the requirement for orders to be served personally on a respondent when an order is made on a respondent before the court. It removes any inconsistency between the Security Industry and Consumer and Trader Tribunal acts, and finally, by way of amendment, it amends the evidence amendment act to address some unintended consequences of the Sexuality Discrimination Legislation Amendment Act commencing prior to the evidence amendment act itself commencing.

The scrutiny committee raised a concern with having a strict liability offence that applies to a foreign co-operative operating in the act failing to lodge particulars with the registrar. I share the government’s view that this information is essential, the penalties modest and the situation facing such a foreign co-operative fairly clear-cut.

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Environment and Minister for Community Affairs) (9.51): The Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2003, which was introduced on 27 November, is the ninth in a series of bills dealing with legislation within the justice and community safety portfolio. The bill makes a number of substantive as well as technical amendments to the portfolio legislation. The amendments are, and I will summarise them briefly, as follows.

The Agents Act: the amendment removes an inadvertent reference to a strict liability offence from sections 86 and 87 of the act as both sections contain a fault element. It replaces an incorrect reference to the Agents Act 1959 with the correct year of 1968. It amends section 168 to ensure that the process for the review of a decision under the Agents Act accords with the requirements in the Consumer and Trader Tribunal Act.

The Consumer Credit Act, which has been commented on by other members: this amendment expands the regulation making power under the act to enable regulations to be made to require fees and charges under a short-term credit contract to be included in the calculation of interest rate. It inserts a new provision concerning disclosure requirements for short-term credit contracts which will provide greater transparency for consumers concerning the true cost of credit products.

The Consumer Credit Regulations: this is a consequential amendment required to reflect the renumbering of sections in the Consumer Credit Act. The Cooperatives Act amendment will provide the chief executive with the power to appoint a deputy or

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