[Index] [Search] [Download] [Related Items] [Help]
ACTS INTERPRETATION (SUBSTITUTED REFERENCES--SECTION 19BA) AMENDMENT ORDE EXPLANATORY STATEMENT Select Legislative Instrument No. 206, 2015 ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL ACTS INTERPRETATION ACT 1901 ACTS
INTERPRETATION (SUBSTITUTED REFERENCES - SECTION
19BA) AMENDMENT ORDER 2015 (NO. 1) The
Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (the Act) provides rules for the
interpretation of all Commonwealth Acts and addresses matters such as
interpreting references to Ministers, Departments or Secretaries of
Departments. A
general reference to a Minister, Department or Secretary in a provision of an
Act or instrument made under an Act means the Minister, Department or Secretary
of the Department administering the legislation for the time being. Where
provisions of Acts and instruments made under Acts refer to particular
Ministers, Departments or Secretaries of Departments by title, these specific
references may need to be altered to reflect new administrative arrangements,
such as the change in title of a Minister or Department or the transfer of
legislation between portfolios under a new Administrative Arrangements Order
(AAO). Section
19BA of the Act confers on the Governor-General power to make orders which
appropriately alter specific references in Acts to reflect change in
responsibility for the administration of Acts. Subsection
19BA(1) provides that the Governor-General may make an order altering a
reference in a provision of an Act to a particular Minister if there is a
change in the administration of the provision and the reference to that
Minister is no longer appropriate. Subsection
19BA(2) provides that the Governor-General may make an order altering a
reference in a provision of an Act to a particular Department if there has been
a change in matters dealt with by that Department but the name of that Department
has not changed. Subsection
19BA(3) provides that the Governor-General may make an order altering a
reference in a provision of an Act to a particular Secretary of a Department if
there is a change in the matters dealt with by that Department but the name of
the office has not changed. On
21 September 2015, a new Ministry was sworn in by the Governor-General and it
included several new positions. The Governor-General also approved a new AAO to
implement the associated administrative changes on 30 September 2015. The new
arrangements include changes to the portfolio responsibilities of Departments. The
purpose of the Acts Interpretation (Substituted References - Section
19BA) Amendment Order 2015 (No. 1) (the Order) is to amend the Acts Interpretation
(Substituted References - Section 19BA) Order 2004 (the original Order) to
reflect the new ministry and the transfer of responsibilities through the AAO
made on 21 and 30 September 2015. The
Order ensures that Ministers, Departments and Secretaries of Departments can
exercise all powers granted to them by legislation for which they are
responsible under the AAO, by ensuring that references to Ministers,
Departments and Secretaries in legislation refer to the correct Ministers,
Departments and Secretaries. Details
of the Order are set out in the Attachment. The
Act specifies no conditions that need to be met before the power to make the
Order may be exercised. The
Order is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments
Act 2003. The Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004 provide that
an instrument made under section 19BA of the Act is not subject to the
disallowance or sunset provisions of the Legislative Instruments Act. The
Order commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of
Legislative Instruments. All
Commonwealth Departments were consulted in order to identify required
substitutions. The following Departments were specifically consulted on the
substitutions included in the Order for instruments administered by those
Departments: *
The
Attorney-General's Department *
The
Department of Communications and the Arts *
The
Department of Education and Training *
The
Department of the Environment *
The
Department of Finance *
The
Department of Immigration and Border Protection *
The
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science *
The
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and *
The
Department of Treasury. The
Order is of a machinery nature only and has no direct or substantial indirect
effect on business. ATTACHMENT Details
of the Acts Interpretation (Substituted References - Section 19BA) Amendment Order
2015 Section
1
provides that the Order is named the Acts Interpretation (Substituted
References - Section 19BA) Amendment Order 2015 (No. 1). Section 2 provides that each provision of the
Order commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of
Legislative Instruments. Section 3 provides that the Order is made
under section 19BA of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Section
4
provides that each instrument specified in a Schedule to the Order is amended
or repealed as set out in the applicable item of the relevant Schedule, and any
other item in a Schedule to the Order has effect according to its terms. Schedule
1 The
items in Schedule 1 amend the original Order. Amendments
to Schedule 1 to the original Order Item
[1] substitutes
a new heading for Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the original Order. The current
heading makes reference to substitutions made on the commencement of the Acts
Interpretation (Substituted References - Section 19BA) Amendment Order 2013
(No. 2). The heading is updated to the specific date (16 October
2010), which is the date the instrument commenced. Item
[2] inserts
a new Part 5 into Schedule 1 to the original Order, for substitutions made on
the commencement of the Order (the day after registration). Section 3 of the original
Order provides for each item in a Part of Schedule 1 to substitute references
to the Minister (or Ministers) mentioned in column 2 for references to the
Minister (or Ministers) mentioned in column 3, wherever such references occur
in a provision mentioned in column 4. Part 5 of Schedule 1 sets out each
new item, the relevant existing reference, the substitute reference and the
affected provisions, for the machinery changes referred to in section 3 of the
original Order. As
shown in the table below, a reference to the Minister listed in the column 2 of
Part 18, in a provision listed in column 4, is replaced by a reference to
the Minister listed in column 3. Amendments
to Schedule 2 to the original Order Item
[3]
inserts a new Part 3 into Schedule 2 to the original Order, for substitutions
made on the commencement of the Order (the day after registration). Section
4 of the original Order provides for each item in a Part of Schedule 2 to
substitute references to the Department mentioned in column 2 for references to
the Department mentioned in column 3, wherever such references occur in a
provision mentioned in column 4. Part 3 of Schedule 2 sets out
each new item, the relevant existing reference, the substitute reference and
the affected provisions, for the machinery changes referred to in section 4 of
the original Order. As
shown in the table below, a reference to the Department listed in column 2 of
Part 3, in a provision listed in column 4, is replaced by a reference to
the Department listed in column. Item Existing
reference Substitute
reference Affected
provisions 1 Australian
Government Attorney-General's Department Department of
Communications and the Arts provisions of: a)
the Guidelines for
the Classification of Films 2012, and b)
the Guidelines for
the Classification of Computer Games 2012 2 Commonwealth Attorney-General's
Department Department of
Communications and the Arts the following
provisions: a)
definition of Department
in section 4 of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer
Games) (Conditional Cultural Exemption Rules) Instrument 2015 b)
definition of Branch
in section 3 of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer
Games) (Approval of Classification Tools) Guidelines 2014, and c)
definition of Branch
in section 4 of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer
Games) (Global Rating Tool) Approval 2014 3 Attorney-General's
Department Department of
Communications and the Arts paragraph
9(1)(e) of the Public Lending Right Act 1985 4 Department of
Industry Department of
Education and Training definition of Australian
Apprenticeships Access Programme in section 4 of the Student
Assistance (Education Institutions and Courses) Determination 2009 5 Department of
Social Services Department of Social Services; or Department of
Education and Training definition of Department
in section 5 of the Family Assistance (Public Interest Certificate
Guidelines) Determination 2015 AustLII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback