INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS (PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES) ACT 1963

This compilation was prepared on 10 July 2008
taking into account amendments up to Act No. 73 of 2008

The text of any of those amendments not in force
on that date is appended in the Notes section

The operation of amendments that have been incorporated may be
affected by application provisions that are set out in the Notes section

Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing,
Attorney‑General's Department, Canberra

Contents

1............ Short title [see Note 1] ....................................................................... 1

3............ Interpretation ...................................................................................... 1

4............ Extension of Act to Territories ........................................................... 3

4A......... Application of the Criminal Code ...................................................... 4

5............ International organisations to which Act applies ............................... 4

5A......... Overseas organisations to which Act applies ..................................... 5

5B......... Special provisions in relation to Designated Authority ..................... 6

6............ Privileges and immunities of certain international organisations and persons connected therewith 6

7............ Privileges and immunities of representatives attending certain international conferences or engaged on missions in Australia or a Territory ...................................................................... 9

8............ Withdrawal of privileges and immunities of representatives of countries not according reciprocal treatment 11

9............ Privileges and immunities of judges and officials of, and persons engaged in business before, the International Court of Justice ............................................................................................... 11

9A......... Privileges and immunities in respect of certain proceedings under the Investment Convention 12

9B......... Privileges and immunities of members of other international tribunals 13

10.......... Waiver ............................................................................................... 13

11.......... Certificates by Minister ................................................................... 14

11B....... Preservation of exemption from duties on importations .................. 14

11C....... Indirect tax concession scheme ......................................................... 14

12.......... Protection of names etc. of international organisations .................... 15

12A....... Conferral of juridical personality and legal capacities ...................... 17

12B....... No registration under the GST Act .................................................. 17

13.......... Regulations ....................................................................................... 17

First Schedule 19

Second Schedule 21

Third Schedule 22

Fourth Schedule 23

Fifth Schedule 24

Notes 25

An Act relating to the Privileges and Immunities of certain International Organisations and of persons connected therewith, and for other purposes

Notes to the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963

Note 1

The International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 as shown in this compilation comprises Act No. 50, 1963 amended as indicated in the Tables below.

All relevant information pertaining to application, saving or transitional provisions prior to 17 October 1997 is not included in this compilation. For subsequent information see Table A.

Table of Acts

Act	Number and year	Date of Assent	Date of commencement	Application, saving or transitional provisions
International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963	50, 1963	18 Oct 1963	15 Nov 1963
Statute Law Revision (Decimal Currency) Act 1966	93, 1966	29 Oct 1966	1 Dec 1966	--
International Organizations (Privileges and Immunities) Amendment Act 1982	4, 1982	22 Mar 1982	19 Apr 1982	--
Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1987	141, 1987	18 Dec 1987	S. 3: Royal Assent (a)	S. 5(1)
ICSID Implementation Act 1990	107, 1990	18 Dec 1990	Part 1 (ss. 1, 2): Royal Assent Remainder: 1 June 1991 (see Gazette 1991, No. S98)	--
Foreign Affairs and Trade Legislation Amendment Act 1997	150, 1997	17 Oct 1997	Schedule 1 (items 7-14): 17 Oct 1997 (b)	Sch. 1 (item 14) [see Table A]
A New Tax System (Indirect Tax and Consequential Amendments) Act (No. 2) 1999	177, 1999	22 Dec 1999	Schedule 7 (items 19-28): (c)	--
Foreign Affairs and Trade Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001	35, 2001	28 Apr 2001	26 May 2001	S. 4 [see Table A]
Petroleum (Timor Sea Treaty) Consequential Amendments) Act 2003	10, 2003	2 Apr 2003	Schedule 1 (items 1-52, 54-75, 78-82): 20 May 2002 Remainder: Royal Assent	--
Legislative Instruments (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003	140, 2003	17 Dec 2003	S. 4 and Schedule 1 (item 28): (d)	S. 4 [see Table A]
Tax Laws Amendment (Repeal of Inoperative Provisions) Act 2006	101, 2006	14 Sept 2006	Schedule 5 (items 127-129) and Schedule 6 (items 5-11): Royal Assent	Sch. 6 (items 5-11) [see Table A]
Statute Law Revision Act 2008	73, 2008	3 July 2008	Schedule 4 (items 352-359): 4 July 2008

Commencement information
2. Sections 4 and 5	Immediately after the commencement of sections 3 to 62 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003	1 January 2005
3. Schedule 1	Immediately after the commencement of sections 3 to 62 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003	1 January 2005

Table of Amendments

ad. = added or inserted am. = amended rep. = repealed rs. = repealed and substituted
Provision affected	How affected
Title......................................	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 1......................................	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 2......................................	am. No. 4, 1982
	rep. No. 44, 1987
S. 3......................................	am. No. 4, 1982; No. 141, 1987; No. 107, 1990; No. 150, 1997; No. 177, 1999; No. 73, 2008
S. 4A...................................	ad. No. 35, 2001
Heading to s. 5....................	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 5......................................	am. No. 150, 1997
Heading to s. 5A.................	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 5A...................................	ad. No. 4, 1982
	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 5B...................................	ad. No. 10, 2003
Heading to s. 6....................	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 6......................................	am. No. 4, 1982; No. 150, 1997; No. 73, 2008
S. 7......................................	am. No. 4, 1982; No. 141, 1987; No. 150, 1997; No. 73, 2008
S. 9A...................................	ad. No. 107, 1990
	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 9B...................................	ad. No. 150, 1997
S. 10....................................	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 11A.................................	ad. No. 150, 1997
	rep. No. 101, 2006
Ss. 11B, 11C.......................	ad. No. 177, 1999
Heading to s. 12..................	am. No. 150, 1997
S. 12....................................	am. No. 93, 1966; No. 4, 1982; No. 141, 1987; No. 150, 1997; No. 35, 2001
S. 12A.................................	ad. No. 150, 1997
S. 12B.................................	ad. No. 177, 1999
S. 13....................................	am. No. 150, 1997; No. 140, 2003
First Schedule.....................	am. No. 150, 1997
Second Schedule................	am. No. 141, 1987; No. 150, 1997
Third Schedule....................	am. No. 141, 1987; No. 150, 1997; No. 101, 2006
Fourth Schedule..................	am. No. 141, 1987; No. 150, 1997
Fifth Schedule.....................	am. No. 4, 1982; No. 141, 1987; No. 150, 1997

Table A

Application, saving or transitional provisions

Foreign Affairs and Trade Legislation Amendment Act 1997 (No. 150, 1997)

Schedule 1

14 Transitional--organisations with headquarters in Australia--repayment of amounts relating to sales tax

(1) If:

(a) any regulations are made for the purposes of section 11A of the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 within 90 days after the commencement of this item; and

(b) those regulations apply to an international organisation; and

(d) at a time before those regulations came into effect, goods were sold to the organisation for its official use; and

(e) the seller has paid sales tax to the Commonwealth in respect of the sale; and

(f) at the time of the sale, there was no sales tax ruling that:

(i) applied to the sale; and

(ii) contained an express reference to the organisation; and

(g) within 90 days after those regulations took effect, the organisation gives the Commissioner of Taxation a written claim for the payment of an amount equal to the sales tax paid by the seller; and

(h) the organisation gives the Commissioner of Taxation such information about the claim as the Commissioner of Taxation requires;

the Commissioner of Taxation must, on behalf of the Commonwealth, pay to the organisation an amount equal to the sales tax paid by the seller.

(2) Paragraph (1)(d) applies to a sale even if the sale occurred before the commencement of this item.

(3) This item does not prevent 2 or more claims from being set out in the same document.

(4) The Consolidated Revenue Fund is appropriated for the purposes of subitem (1).

Foreign Affairs and Trade Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 2001 (No. 35, 2001)

4 Application of amendments

(1) Each amendment made by this Act applies to acts and omissions that take place after the amendment commences.

(2) For the purposes of this section, if an act or omission is alleged to have taken place between 2 dates, one before and one on or after the day on which a particular amendment commences, the act or omission is alleged to have taken place before the amendment commences.

Legislative Instruments (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003 (No. 140, 2003)

4 Transitional provisions

(1) If legislation introduced into the Parliament before the commencing day but commencing on or after that day:

(a) authorises an instrument to be made in the exercise of a power delegated by the Parliament; and

(b) is expressed to require that instrument to be published as a statutory rule under the Statutory Rules Publication Act 1903;

any instrument so made is taken to be an instrument referred to in paragraph 6(b) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 despite the repeal by this Act of the Statutory Rules Publication Act 1903.

(2) If legislation introduced into the Parliament before the commencing day but commencing on or after that day:

(a) authorises an instrument to be made in the exercise of a power delegated by the Parliament; and

(b) is expressed to declare that instrument to be a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901;

any instrument so made is taken to be an instrument referred to in subparagraph 6(d)(i) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 despite the repeal by this Act of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

(3) If legislation that is in force immediately before the commencing day or that is introduced into the Parliament before that day but that commences on or after that day:

(a) authorised or authorises an instrument to be made in the exercise of a power delegated by the Parliament that adversely affects the rights of a person, or results in the imposition of liabilities on a person; and

(b) provided or provides that the instrument has effect, to the extent that it adversely affects those rights or results in the imposition of those liabilities, despite subsection 48(2) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, before the date of its notification in the Gazette;

that legislation is to be construed, on and after the commencing day or the day of its commencement, whichever last occurs, as if it had provided instead that the instrument, to the extent that it adversely affects those rights or results in the imposition of those liabilities, has effect, despite subsection 12(2) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, before its registration under that Act.

(4) If:

(a) legislation (the enabling legislation) in force immediately before the commencing day:

(i) authorises the making of an instrument; and

(ii) does not declare such an instrument to be a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 but nonetheless makes provision for its disallowance by the application, with or without modification, of the provisions of Part XII of that Act; and

(b) an instrument is made in the exercise of that authority on or after the commencing day; and

(c) the instrument is not a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 or otherwise;

the enabling legislation has effect, on and after the commencing day, as if:

(d) it had declared such instruments to be disallowable instruments for the purposes of section 46B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901; and

(e) it had provided for such modifications of the operation of that section as are necessary to ensure that the effect of the applied provisions of Part XII of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 is preserved.

(5) In this section:

commencing day means the commencing day within the meaning of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Tax Laws Amendment (Repeal of Inoperative Provisions) Act 2006
(No. 101, 2006)

Schedule 6

5 Application of Schedule 5 amendments

The repeals and amendments made by Schedule 5 apply to acts done or omitted to be done, or states of affairs existing, after the commencement of the amendments.

6 Object

The object of this Part is to ensure that, despite the repeals and amendments made by this Act, the full legal and administrative consequences of:

(a) any act done or omitted to be done; or

(b) any state of affairs existing; or

before such a repeal or amendment applies, can continue to arise and be carried out, directly or indirectly through an indefinite number of steps, even if some or all of those steps are taken after the repeal or amendment applies.

7 Making and amending assessments, and doing other things, in relation to past matters

Even though an Act is repealed or amended by this Act, the repeal or amendment is disregarded for the purpose of doing any of the following under any Act or legislative instrument (within the meaning of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003):

(a) making or amending an assessment (including under a provision that is itself repealed or amended);

(b) exercising any right or power, performing any obligation or duty or doing any other thing (including under a provision that is itself repealed or amended);

in relation to any act done or omitted to be done, any state of affairs existing, or any period ending, before the repeal or amendment applies.

Example 1: On 31 July 1999, Greg Ltd lodged its annual return under former section 160ARE of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The return stated that the company had a credit on its franking account and that no franking deficit tax was payable for the 1998‑99 franking year. Under former section 160ARH of that Act, the Commissioner was taken to have made an assessment consistent with the return.

Following an audit undertaken after the repeal of Part IIIAA of that Act, the Commissioner concludes that Greg Ltd fraudulently overfranked dividends it paid during the 1998‑99 franking year, and had a franking account deficit for that franking year. As a result, the Commissioner considers that franking deficit tax and a penalty by way of additional tax are payable.

The Commissioner can amend the assessment under former section 160ARN of that Act, because item 7 of this Schedule disregards the repeal of that section for the purposes of making an assessment in relation to the 1998‑99 franking year. Item 7 will also disregard the repeal of Division 11 of former Part IIIAA to the extent necessary for the Commissioner to assess Greg Ltd's liability to a penalty by way of additional tax.

Despite the repeal of sections 160ARU and 160ARV, item 9 will ensure that the general interest charge will accrue on the unpaid franking deficit tax and penalty until they are paid.

Item 7 will also preserve Greg Ltd's right, under former section 160ART of that Act, to object against the Commissioner's amended assessment (including the penalty), since the objection is the exercise of a right in relation to a franking year that ended before the repeal of Part IIIAA.

Example 2: During the 1997‑98 income year, Duffy Property Ltd withheld amounts from its employees' wages as required by former Divisions 1AAA and 2 of Part VI of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The company failed to notify the Commissioner of those amounts, and failed to remit them to the Commissioner.

Following an audit undertaken after the repeal of those Divisions, the Commissioner discovers that the withheld amounts have not been remitted. The company's records are incomplete and the Commissioner is unable to completely ascertain the extent of its liability for the withheld amounts. Under section 222AGA of that Act, the Commissioner makes an estimate of the liability.

Item 7 will disregard the repeal of section 220AAZA of that Act (which empowered the Commissioner to recover the amount of the estimate). Even though the estimate is made after the repeal, it relates to amounts withheld before the repeal.

8 Saving of provisions about effect of assessments

If a provision or part of a provision that is repealed or amended by this Act deals with the effect of an assessment, the repeal or amendment is disregarded in relation to assessments made, before or after the repeal or amendment applies, in relation to any act done or omitted to be done, any state of affairs existing, or any period ending, before the repeal or amendment applies.

9 Saving of provisions about general interest charge, failure to notify penalty or late reconciliation statement penalty

If:

(a) a provision or part of a provision that is repealed or amended by this Act provides for the payment of:

(i) general interest charge, failure to notify penalty or late reconciliation statement penalty (all within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936); or

(ii) interest under the Taxation (Interest on Overpayments and Early Payments) Act 1983; and

(b) in a particular case, the period in respect of which the charge, penalty or interest is payable (whether under the provision or under the Taxation Administration Act 1953) has not begun, or has begun but not ended, when the provision is repealed or amended;

then, despite the repeal or amendment, the provision or part continues to apply in the particular case until the end of the period.

10 Repeals disregarded for the purposes of dependent provisions

If the operation of a provision (the subject provision) of any Act or legislative instrument (within the meaning of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003) made under any Act depends to any extent on an Act, or a provision of an Act, that is repealed by this Act, the repeal is disregarded so far as it affects the operation of the subject provision.

11 Schedule does not limit operation of section 8 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901

This Schedule does not limit the operation of section 8 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS (PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES) ACT 1963 - NOTES

Commencement information
Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
Provision(s)	Commencement	Date/Details
2. Sections 4 and 5	Immediately after the commencement of sections 3 to 62 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003	1 January 2005
3. Schedule 1	Immediately after the commencement of sections 3 to 62 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003	1 January 2005