Page 1279 - Week 04 - Thursday, 8 May 2014
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Further changes are made to the Legal Profession Act which ensure that lawyers hold trust money from ACT matters in an ACT trust account. This might occur when a firm operates in and out of the ACT. The interest from these accounts helps to fund the ACT’s legal assistance programs. Amendments also move the responsibility for barrister’s licensing and disciplinary matters from the Law Society to the Bar Association. The Bar Council will continue to act in an advisory role in relation to its assessment, advisory and reporting functions. The aim is to better align responsibility and function. I understand that these changes have been requested by the Law Society and Bar Association.
Lastly, I note that Mr Corbell has circulated one additional amendment which replaces the words “employees average weekly” with the word “male” in the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act and the Workers Compensation Act. This is a technical correction of terminology, and I support the change.
The changes that have been made to this bill have been explained in greater detail by the explanatory statement and by Mr Corbell’s introductory remarks, so I will not go into any more detail and will simply conclude by saying that I support these changes.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (11.17), in reply: I thank members for their support of the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill.
This amendment bill focuses on assistance and support that make a difference in the lives of ordinary Canberrans.
Among other things, the bill contains amendments which will support the Public Trustee and his office to continue to serve some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens. These changes are designed to reduce delays in finalising estates and modernise the process in the administration of those estates. The amendments will assist in reducing stress on family and friends while they are grieving the death of a loved one.
Amendments to the Coroners Act, Family Provision Act 1969 and Public Trustee Act 1985 will assist families during a difficult time.
The amendments to the Coroners Act will reduce unnecessary delays in the release of a body for cremation or burial.
Changes to the Family Provision Act will minimise delays in the finalisation of deceased estates. Currently, the ACT has one of the longest time frames for lodging a family provision application. Currently, eligible applicants have 12 months after the date when administration in respect of the estate of a deceased person has been granted to make a claim. As a consequence, finalisation of an estate can be delayed to well in excess of 12 months following a death. Delays of this magnitude can cause considerable hardship to beneficiaries of an estate. Therefore it is proposed that this period be reduced to six months, balancing the need for claimants to have adequate
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