Page 5644 - Week 15 - Thursday, 10 December 2009
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should only receive these notices in cases where the commission’s involvement is necessary and appropriate. The ACAT may still, on a case-by-case basis, provide the commissioner with notices of hearings, but this amendment ensures this is no longer a mandatory requirement.
This bill makes straightforward and sensible reforms to the Human Rights Commission Act and related legislation. The changes will streamline the commission’s procedures, improve the operation of the Discrimination Act, and make a few necessary consequential changes in other legislation. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mr Seselja) adjourned to the next sitting.
Surveyors Amendment Bill 2009
Mr Barr, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Planning, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Gaming and Racing) (10.32): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
The Surveyors Amendment Bill 2009 makes a number of changes to the Surveyors Act 2007. The changes are mostly administrative. The Surveyors Act commenced on 14 November 2007 and continues a well-established practice of registration of those surveyors who define the location of land boundaries within the ACT.
The registration of surveyors involved in land boundary surveys is a practice that has been in place in Australia for over 130 years. The system has resulted in the high integrity of land boundaries which underpins our land administration system. As a consequence, land boundary disputes in Australia are rare.
This bill makes minor, yet important, amendments to the Surveyors Act. These amendments, in the order presented in the bill, are as follows:
• The Surveyors Act introduced continuing professional development for surveyors as a mandatory requirement for annual registration renewal. The Chief Surveyor can make guidelines in relation to this requirement. This amendment simply changes the term “guideline” to “direction” to reflect the mandatory nature of this requirement.
• Currently, approximately 80 per cent of surveyors registered in the ACT are also registered in New South Wales. These surveyors with dual registration are able to renew registration for both jurisdictions by the New South Wales Board of Surveyors and Spatial Information. This saves considerable administrative duplication and cost. However, for this to operate effectively it is necessary to
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