Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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ARMY AND AIR FORCE CANTEEN SERVICE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1997 NO. 5

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

STATUTORY RULES 1997 NO. 5

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel

Defence Act 1903

Army and Air Force Canteen Service Regulations (Amendment)

The Army and Air Force Canteen Service Regulations (the Principal Regulations), made under the Defence Act 1903, provide for the establishment and operation of the Army and Air Force Canteen Service ("the Canteen Service"). The purposes of the Canteen Service, set out in subregulation 4(3) of the Principal Regulations, include the supply of goods, facilities and services to, or for the recreation of, members of the Army or Air Force and persons employed in Army or Air Force installations, their dependants, visitors to the installations, and cadets.

This Statutory Rule makes four amendments which modify the operations of the Canteen Service to enhance its efficiency and commercial viability.

Subregulation 4(1) of the Principal Regulations provides that the Canteen Service is to be known as the "Army and Air Force Canteen Service". The Statutory Rule adds a new subregulation 4(5) to enable the Canteen Service to trade under a different name (with greater commercial focus), provided the name is registered under the relevant State or Territory business names legislation.

The Canteen Service is conducted and controlled by a Board of Management ("the Board"), which is established by regulation 9 of the Principal Regulations. Regulation 10 of the Principal Regulations sets out the composition of the Board. Prior to the Statutory Rule, the Board consisted of: two officers of the Army not below the rank of Major General and two officers of the Air Force not below the rank of Air Vice-Marshal, appointed by their respective chiefs of staff; a public servant employed in the Department of Defence appointed by the Secretary to that Department; three persons appointed by the Minister; and the Managing Director of the Canteen Service. As the limited availability of military officers at the necessary rank level restricted the functioning of the Board, the Statutory Rule reduces the required rank level of the military members of the Board by one rank, to the rank of Brigadier for the Army and Air Commodore for the Air Force. The amendment allows greater flexibility in the military appointments without affecting the structure of the Board.

Regulation 13 of the Principal Regulations sets out the powers, duties and functions of the Board. These include the power to: acquire and dispose of property; sell goods and provide services; open, conduct and close canteens; invest moneys; and enter into contracts. Paragraph 13(j) provided that the Board may, inter alia, establish and maintain, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, schemes for the provision of superannuation or retirement benefits for persons appointed or employed under the Principal Regulations. As the Board has restructured its superannuation scheme as required by the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, the requirement for the Minister for Finance to approve the superannuation scheme was inconsistent with that Act. The Statutory Rule deletes the reference to the approval of the Minister for Finance from paragraph 13(j) of the Principal Regulations.

Until now the Canteen Service has carried out its functions through direct employment by the Board, as there was no provision in the Principal Regulations for the Board to contract out its core functions. This has limited the commercial effectiveness of the Canteen Service. The Statutory Rule adds a new subregulation 13(2), to enable the Board to contract out three core functions: the power to sell goods and merchandise; the power to supply and provide services, entertainment and other amenities; and the power to conduct canteen and other facilities. This amendment allows the Board to operate in line with current trends in business and government enterprises.

The Statutory Rule comes into operation on the date of gazettal.


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