Page 748 - Week 03 - Thursday, 2 April 2020
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This bill is necessary to ensure that we are able to meet the legitimate policy objective of responding quickly and effectively to matters arising from the COVID-19 public health emergency. It provides the flexibility that government, businesses and individuals will need to function effectively whilst physically distancing and working from home.
The current restrictions on movements and activities other than essential services significantly hinder the ability of groups to comply with a range of existing laws—in particular, the ability to comply with requirements to undertake actions in person at a particular place in a particular way, or in a mandated time frame that may already be, or become, simply impossible or impractical.
If these requirements cannot be relaxed in a timely way, government agencies may not be able to meet their statutory duties and may need to divert critical resources from responding to the current public health emergency to meet administrative requirements. It would also mean that businesses, organisations and individuals could incur penalties or face other adverse outcomes in a situation where they are not reasonably able to comply with legislative requirements.
In that context, this bill amends the following acts: the Children and Young People Act 2008; the Corrections Management Act 2007; the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005; the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005; the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1991; the Family Violence Act 2016; the Firearms Act 1996; the Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008; the Official Visitor Act 2012; the Personal Violence Act 2016; the Prohibited Weapons Act 1996; the Supreme Court Act 1933; and the Working With Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Act 2011. These amendments create the flexibility needed in a range of different areas to either directly or indirectly keep Canberrans safe, while ensuring that government and business can continue to function properly.
On the economic front, this bill also amends the Gaming Machine Act 2004 to allow clubs to count wages and financial support paid to staff as community contributions, as a way of keeping more staff employed. It allows them to claim $2 in community contributions for every dollar spent on preparing or providing food for emergency-affected people. It also amends long service leave legislation to allow access to portable long service leave entitlements in some cases of hardship directly resulting from the impacts of COVID-19.
The bill also makes a number of amendments to the Leases (Commercial and Retail) Act 2001 and the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to implement important measures for both commercial and residential tenancies. These changes would, for example, allow for the implementation of a moratorium on evictions for rental arrears, through declaration, for a period of time, in accordance with the decision of national cabinet. These powers would allow the government to displace existing clauses in tenancy agreements to, for example, prevent or delay evictions for rent arrears, alter the amount of rent payable, alter the time frames for taking certain actions, prohibit the exercise of certain rights such as to inspect properties, or exempt parties from the operation of certain provisions.
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