Page 3623 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Schedule 1 of the bill amends the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2003 to clarify the regulation-making power and the functions of the authority in relation to opening, developing and building a cemetery or crematorium. The bill amends the regulation-making power to include express provision about opening a cemetery or crematorium. The bill also amends section 28A of the act to clarify that the functions of the cemeteries authority include developing and building a cemetery or crematorium.
Schedule 1 of the bill will make a number of amendments to the Financial Management Act 1996, the Lifetime Care and Support (Catastrophic Injuries) Act 2014, the Public Sector Workers Compensation Fund Act 2018 and the Territory Superannuation Provision Protection Act 2000 to ensure that financial investment provisions are drafted consistently across these acts and accurately reflect the territory’s financial administrative processes.
Section 37 of the Financial Management Act is amended to clarify that transfers between the territory banking account and certain directorate banking accounts to facilitate investment may be made without further appropriation.
Section 38 is updated to reflect current administrative practice that an investment of public money may be made or managed for the territory by any entity, including a directorate, or an entity other than a directorate, such as an external fund manager. Amendments to section 38 also clarify that fees and expenses reasonably incurred for making or managing an investment may be deducted from the investment as a whole, not just from any interest received for the investment. The bill also removes subsections (9) and (10) of section 38 to correct an anomaly and to clarify the original intention that section 38 of the Financial Management Act applies to directorate banking accounts.
Finally in this section, a new definition of “returns” is inserted into each of the acts to replace the term “interest” in relation to investments. The acts currently refer to “interest” received from investments of public money. The dictionaries in the Financial Management Act and the Territory Superannuation Provision Protection Act define “interest” as including “a dividend and any other financial return on a deposit, loan or other investment”. However, the ordinary meaning of “interest” would not usually include returns on investments such as dividends, capital gains or distributions. The new definition of “returns” includes interest, dividends, capital gains, distributions and any other financial return on an investment.
Schedule 1 of the bill amends sections 96 and 97 of the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2019, which set out formulas for working out an injured person’s entitlement to income replacement benefits. The act currently includes superannuation in gross income when a worker’s pre-injury income is less than $800. This is problematic, as a worker’s pre-injury income cannot be worked out until their gross income is known. During the debate on the Motor Accident Injuries Bill 2019 in the May sittings, the government flagged that there were technical issues with the approach and that this would need to be addressed.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video