Editors --- "Passage of Other Bills Discussed In Admin Review No. 55" [2004] AdminRw 39; (2004) 56 Admin Review 84

• Passage of other Bills discussed in Admin Review no. 55

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Passage of other Bills discussed in Admin Review no. 55

The Designs Act 2003 was assented to on 17 December 2003. The Act implements a new designs registration system based on recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission and replaces the 1906 Act of the same name.

The Australian Heritage Council Act 2003 was assented to on 28 September 2003 and commenced operation on 1 January 2004. As outlined in Admin Review no. 55, the Australian Heritage Council replaces the Australian Heritage Commission. The Council’s main function is to conduct assessments of nominations for heritage listing.

Two new lists—the National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritage List—were created by the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2003. The Commonwealth Heritage List consists of sites owned or controlled by the Commonwealth. The heritage values of sites on both lists are legislatively protected. The Australian Heritage Council makes recommendations to the Minister about listing, but the Minister has the final decision. The existing Register of the National Estate, which does not provide legislative protection, will be maintained.

The Australian Human Rights Commission Legislation Bill 2003 is still before Parliament. The Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee made recommendations for amendment of the Bill, including removing the requirement that the Australian Human Rights Commission obtain the Attorney-General’s approval before intervening in court proceedings—if the Commission’s President is not, and was not immediately before appointment as President, a federal judge. The Committee also recommended that a measure of specialisation for commissioners be retained in the new structure, with responsibility for a particular area or areas (such as sex, race or disability discrimination) to be assigned to each commissioner. It recommended that one of the commissioners be required to have significant experience in the community life of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.