Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009

2008-2009





               THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA





                          HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES











        COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009




                    SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM





             Amendments to be moved on behalf of the Government









                     (Circulated by the authority of the
 Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs,
                          the Hon Jenny Macklin MP)
        COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009



OUTLINE


These Government amendments add two elements to the bill.

The bill as introduced established  a  statutory  position  of  Coordinator-
General  for   Remote   Indigenous   Service   (Coordinator-General).    The
Coordinator-General will monitor, assess, advise in relation to,  and  drive
the development and delivery of services and facilities  in  certain  remote
locations specified by the Minister.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) signed a  National  Partnership
Agreement on Remote Service Delivery in November 2008.  The  two  amendments
in this bill reflect the agreement signed by the  Commonwealth,  the  States
and the Northern Territory to work together with Indigenous  communities  to
improve Indigenous Australians' access to government services.

The first  amendment  provides  for  consultation  with  relevant  State  or
Territory governments before the Minister specifies a remote location  in  a
particular State or Territory for the purpose  of  bringing  that  community
within the purview of the Coordinator-General.

The second amendment provides for the Coordinator-General,  when  exercising
his or her powers, to make requests through the relevant State or  Territory
Coordinator-General or, where the  State  or  Territory  Coordinator-General
fails to comply, the relevant State or Territory agency head.

These amendments emphasise the coordinated approach that  will  be  used  to
improve Indigenous Australians' access to government services  by  providing
for additional consultation and input from the States and Territories.

Financial impact statement

These amendments do not affect the financial impact of the bill.
        COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009

NOTES ON AMENDMENTS

Amendment (1) is to clause 4, which inserts after the definition of
Indigenous, an additional definition which provides:

      Indigenous Affairs Minister, of a State or Territory, means the
      Minister of the State or Territory who is responsible for the
      administration of matters relating to Indigenous affairs.

Amendment (2) is to clause 4, which inserts after the definition of
specified remote community, an additional definition which provides:

      State or Territory Coordinator-General has the meaning given by
      subsection 9A(3).

Amendment (3) is to clause 5, which is to be amended by the addition of
subclause (2A) to provide for consultation with a State or Territory
government before the Minister specifies a remote location in the
particular State or Territory for the purposes of bringing that community
within the purview of the Coordinator-General.

Amendment (4) adds clause 9A to Division 2 of Part 2.

Subclause 9A(1) provides that the Coordinator-General, when making  requests
to staff of a service  agency,  may  do  so  only  by  requesting  that  the
relevant State or Territory Coordinator-General give  the  original  request
to those staff, and then the State or Territory  Coordinator-General  giving
the request to those staff.

Subclause 9A(2) provides that the Coordinator-General may request  the  head
of a service agency to give  the  original  request  to  the  staff  of  the
service agency, where the Coordinator-General  is  not  satisfied  that  the
State or Territory Coordinator-General has complied with the  request  under
paragraph 9A(1)(a).  The head of the service  agency  would  then  give  the
request to the staff of the service agency.

Subclause 9A(3) provides that the State or Territory Coordinator-General  is
the person (if any) nominated by the Minister  of  the  State  or  Territory
responsible for Indigenous affairs.

Amendment (5) is to clause 16, which deals with reports by the  Coordinator-
General in relation to failures to  comply  with  requests.   The  amendment
adds two new paragraphs to encompass a  failure  by  a  State  or  Territory
Coordinator-General to comply with a request made  under  paragraph 9A(1)(a)
or a failure by the head of a service agency to comply with a  request  made
under paragraph 9A(2)(a).