Page 4892 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 25 October 2011
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the community insurance scheme and whether policies are available for events as well as ongoing organisation activities and what Treasury has done to promote these policies to community organisations?
MR BARR: I am advised it is difficult to give an exact number of individual organisations and their particular insurance arrangements. This is because the government facilitates the provision of the arrangements rather than provides the arrangements directly. However, I can advise the member that there are three group public liability insurance schemes. One is for community sector organisations occupying space in a government building in circumstances where insurance is unavailable or prohibitively expensive. A group public liability insurance scheme is designed for ACT community councils. That is also available to any community organisation that fits the same risk profile as a community council. This scheme, though, is administered by the Chief Minister and Cabinet Directorate. And the third scheme is a public liability insurance product for organisations that present diverse risk profiles.
With regard to event insurance, I am advised that the cost of an annual public liability insurance policy is, for the most part, only marginally more expensive than seeking insurance to cover a specific event. But overall, it is best for community sector organisations to engage with their brokers or insurance companies to obtain cover which is most appropriate for their individual circumstances.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Le Couteur, a supplementary.
MS LE COUTEUR: Has any work been done on similar arrangements to cover community sporting groups and, in looking at this, has any work been done on the cost savings that this might provide?
MR BARR: Yes, I understand that work has been undertaken.
Taxation—Quinlan review
MS BRESNAN: When will the Quinlan tax review be reporting?
MR BARR: When the review is complete.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Bresnan, a supplementary.
MS BRESNAN: Minister, I ask whether you could please provide some further details or examples to explain what you meant by this statement that the ACT government made in its submission to the tax forum:
The current federal financial arrangements do not provide adequate incentives to reform as the benefits of reform are redistributed. This should be revised.
MR BARR: I do thank Ms Bresnan for raising this matter. It does relate to horizontal fiscal equalisation, and it was the subject of some considerable debate at the commonwealth tax forum. And it was for that reason that the commonwealth tax forum was held earlier this month. There would be a range of issues that I want the Quinlan review to examine from that commonwealth tax forum. One example is in relation to horizontal fiscal equalisation working against reform. It simply relates to the fact that the Commonwealth Grants Commission, in making assessments of the
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