Page 625 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 March 2014
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Amendments to the Agents Act and regulation will give effect to a decision by ministers for fair trading and consumer affairs to phase out the existing travel agent industry regulatory framework and initiate the travel industry transition plan. This plan includes winding down the travel compensation fund, the repeal of travel agents legislation and the introduction of a voluntary industry accreditation scheme.
The current regulatory framework for travel agents was first introduced in 1986. Since then, the rapid rise of new and online business models, coupled with technological advancements and a growth in direct bookings, has gradually reduced the relevance and effectiveness of the existing system.
The changing marketplace has also disadvantaged local travel businesses which must compete with offshore providers operating outside the regulatory framework. Therefore these proposed changes reduce red tape and other regulatory constraints associated with the need to obtain a licence and maintain travel compensation fund membership. These changes will result in significant financial and time savings for travel agents.
Consumers will not be disadvantaged by these reforms. Consumers buying goods and services, including travel, are protected under the Australian Consumer Law which has applied since 1 January 2011. The ACL applies to all Australian businesses and imposes the same obligations on travel agents no matter where they operate in Australia.
The bill also amends section 16 of the Coroners Act to replace references to “the coroner” with “a coroner” so that any coroner would have the authority to release the body of a deceased person to their family for burial or cremation. This straightforward amendment removes an unnecessary limitation in the legislation and reduces the likelihood of unnecessary delay before the body of a deceased person may be released to their family.
An amendment to section 102 of the Coroners Act reverses the subsumption of the Chief Coroner’s annual report in the JACS annual report at the request of the Chief Coroner. The previous amendment was intended to reduce work for the Chief Coroner but in practice did not meet her operational needs.
An amendment to the DPP Act removes all doubt that the DPP may appear for an applicant for a forensic procedure order whether or not that proceeding was initiated by the director. Again, this is a very straightforward and technical amendment.
The bill amends the Family Provision Act to reduce the time in which a family provision claim may be made against a deceased estate. Currently, eligible applicants have 12 months to make such a claim. The time starts when administration in respect of the estate of the deceased person has been granted. A consequence of this time limit is that finalisation of an estate can be delayed to well in excess of 12 months after the person has died. Delays of this magnitude cause considerable hardship to the beneficiaries of the estate who may be the partner or a minor child of the deceased. So it is proposed to reduce this period to six months.
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