Page 541 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 February 2020
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MADAM SPEAKER: All matters are being considered by the administration and procedure committee. There were two components. The first was that a bill was ruled out of order because I considered it to be, to use layman’s language, a straight-out money bill, whereas precedents for penalties and notices and fines have been debated in this place before. What happens is now up to the Assembly, but I have allowed it to be debated. All matters are being actively considered by the administration and procedure committee. The question is that the bill be agreed to in principle.
MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts, Creative Industries and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (5.27): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I note your ruling and the ongoing consideration of that matter by the Assembly, and that the matter is therefore available for debate today. On that basis, the government will be supporting the bill, with an important proposed amendment that has been circulated by Ms Le Couteur. The government agrees that we need to continue to put into place practical measure to support vulnerable Canberrans. The amendments to the Magistrates Court Act will allow all infringement notices that are issued in the ACT to take into account the circumstances of people on low incomes or who are otherwise disadvantaged. That measure will support those in need.
The government supports the intent of this bill and it is ready to support the bill provided an amendment is made to the commencement date so that adequate time is permitted to implement the reforms. Therefore, we will support the amendment circulated by Ms Le Couteur that the bill commences by notice, or two years after its notification date if it is not commenced at that time. That time amendment is crucial, due to the complex nature of ACT fines systems at the moment.
In the ACT the schemes for infringement notices are established under the Magistrates Court Act 1930 and the Road Transport (General) Act 1999. This bill proposes to amend the Magistrates Court Act to reflect the infringement notice scheme in the Road Transport Act, which includes flexible payment options. Infringement notices in the ACT are issued by a number of authorised officers and agencies. They include Access Canberra, Transport Canberra and City Services, and ACT Policing. Unlike traffic and parking infringements, which are managed through Access Canberra’s rego.act IT system and the infringement notice management plan office, there is no centralised IT system or administration established for the other types of infringement notices under the Magistrates Court Act scheme.
Offences for which infringement notices can be issued under other legislation are identified in 39 regulations under the Magistrates Court Act, with a separate regulation for each act that has infringement notice penalties. The regulations include criminal infringement notices, CINs; multiple infringement notices, such as the litter infringement notices and animal welfare infringement notices; and building infringement notices, as well as a range of other infringement notices.
The way that these infringement notices are regulated and enforced across government is diverse and complex. Transport Canberra and City Services, Access
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