EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2005 No. 73

STATUTORY RULES 2005 No.   n

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Finance and Administration

 

Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997

 

Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Amendment Regulations 2005 (No.  . 1)

 

The Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (the Act) provides reporting, accountability and other rules for Commonwealth authorities and companies.

 

Subsection 49(1) of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.

 

Section 5 of the Act includes the following definitions:

·        a ‘GBE’ is a Commonwealth authority or Commonwealth company that is prescribed by the regulations to be a GBE; and

·        the ‘responsible Minister’ for a Commonwealth company is the Minister who is prescribed by the regulations as the Minister responsible for the company, or if no Minister is prescribed, the Minister who is responsible for the company.

 

For the purposes of section 5 of the Act, the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Regulations 1997 (the Principal Regulations) prescribe:

·        Commonwealth authorities and companies that are GBEs (Regulation 4); and

·        Commonwealth companies for which the Finance Minister for Finance and Administration (the Finance Minister) is the responsible Minister (Regulation 4A).

 

Schedule 1 of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Amendment Regulations 2005 (the Amendment Regulations) amended the Principal Regulations by updating:

·        the list of prescribed government business enterprises (GBEs); and

·        the list of Commonwealth companies for which the Finance Minister is prescribed as the responsible Minister.

 

Further details of the Amendment Regulations are in the Attachment.

The Amendment Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (Legislative Instruments Act).  The Amendment Regulations are considered minor and machinery in nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.  Accordingly, consultation under section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act was not considered necessary.

 

In relation to section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act, no consultation was undertaken in relation to the Regulations as they are of a minor or machinery nature and do not substantially alter existing arrangements.  The Office of Regulation Review advised that the preparation of a Regulation Impact Statement was not mandatory for the same reasons.

 

The Amendment Regulations commence on the day after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

 

ATTACHMENT

 

Details of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Amendment Regulations 2005 (No.   . 1)

 

Regulation 1 – Name of Regulations

 

This regulation provides that the title of the Regulations is the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Amendment Regulations 2005 (No.   . 1).

 

Regulation 2 – Commencement

 

This regulation provides for the Regulations to commence on the date after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

 

Regulation 3 – Amendment of Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Regulations 1997

 

This regulation provides that the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Regulations 1997 (the Principal Regulations) are amended as set out in Schedule 1.

 

Schedule 1 – Amendments commencing the day after registration

 

Item [1] - Subregulation 4 (2), table

This item updates the list of prescribed GBEs by replacing references to ‘Australian Submarine Corporation Pty Limited’ with references to ‘ASC Pty Limited’.

·        The Australian Submarine Corporation Pty Limited changed its name to ASC Pty Limited on 1 October 2004.

 

Item [2] - Subregulation 4A (1), table

 

This item updates the list of companies for which the Finance Minister is the responsible Minister, by:

·        replacing references to ‘Australian Submarine Corporation Pty Limited’ with references to ‘ASC Pty Limited’; and

·        inserting ‘Australian River Co. Limited’ and ‘Telstra Instalment Receipt Trustee Limited’.

-        The Finance Minister is the responsible Minister for these two companies under section 5 of the Act. This inclusion improves the completeness of the list in Regulation 4A and provides better transparency for users of the Principal Regulations.