Page 73 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 14 February 2012
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the emergency services. Additionally, the Emergencies Amendment Bill 2012 will clarify inconsistencies and ambiguities in emergency arrangements in certain circumstances.
The government will also introduce the Road Transport (General) Amendment Bill 2012 to amend provisions relating to infringement notices for offences under road transport legislation and clarify the Road Transport Authority’s power to deal with statutory declarations that contain incomplete, false or misleading information. It also clarifies the legal liability of the registered operator of a vehicle in relation to offences involving that vehicle, and explains the circumstances in which that liability is discharged. The amendments will improve the operation of the infringement notice scheme and will ensure that the demerit points associated with certain traffic offences are effectively allocated, by discouraging the use of false or misleading statutory declarations to avoid liability. The amendments support the road safety strategy released late in 2011 by ensuring that penalties for offences such as speeding are imposed on the individual who committed the offence.
In addition, the government will table an exposure draft to provide for the use of alcohol ignition interlocks to address recidivist drink-driving behaviour in the ACT. This builds on the reforms to address drink-driving behaviour introduced by the government in 2010.
Legislation will also be introduced that will bring the ACT’s regulation of combat sports in line with other jurisdictions. The existing act has now become outdated and does not reflect the state of the industry in the territory. The Combat Sports Control Bill 2012 will provide an appropriate level of safety for full contact combat sport participants, including those sports that have emerged in the last decade.
The government will introduce the Workers Compensation (Terrorism) Amendment Bill, which proposes amendments to remove any time-based limitation on the operation of chapter 15 of the Workers Compensation Act 1951. The amendments will create an ongoing power for government to establish a temporary reinsurance fund to respond to acts of terrorism arising after 1 April 2012. This ensures that prompt and timely action can be taken to ensure the effective operation of the workers compensation scheme in the event that ACT workers are injured by an act of terrorism in the course of their employment.
The government will also be moving amendments to the Dangerous Substances Act 2004 to align provisions with the model Work Health and Safety Act. Regulations will also be made to update and harmonise provisions on hazardous chemicals and asbestos. As the Assembly is aware, during the harmonisation of work health and safety legislation, the government decided not to adopt the model provisions as they applied to hazardous chemicals, asbestos and major hazard facilities. This is because of concerns that the model regulations would reduce the requirements presently in place in the territory. The government now intends to adopt the model regulations with appropriate adjustments to maintain our safety standards and to address the territory’s unique geographic and environmental requirements.
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