New South Wales Consolidated Acts

RETIREMENT VILLAGES ACT 1999 - SECT 204

204 COVID-19 pandemic--Ministerial exemptions

(1) During the prescribed period, the Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, exempt any of the following from a specified provision of this Act or the regulations--

(a) a retirement village or a class of retirement villages,

(b) a resident of a retirement village or a class of residents,

(c) an operator of a retirement village or a class of operators,

(d) the Secretary.

Note : Power to make an order includes power to amend or repeal the order--see section 43(2) of the Interpretation Act 1987 .

(2) An exemption granted under this section is subject to any conditions specified in the order.

(3) In particular, an order may specify that the exemption operates only to the extent that alternative requirements, specified in the order, are complied with instead of the provision from which the exemption is granted.

(4) The Minister must not grant an exemption under this section unless the Minister is satisfied that the exemption is necessary because the provision from which the exemption is granted requires non-compliance with a specified order under section 7 of the Public Health Act 2010 that relates to COVID-19.

(5) An application to the Tribunal for an order under another provision of this Act cannot be made in respect of a person's failure to comply with a provision from which the person has been granted an exemption under this section if the failure is in compliance with the exemption.

(6) However, an application may be made to the Tribunal for an administrative review under the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997 of a decision to grant an exemption under this section.

(7) In this section--

"prescribed period" means the period--

(a) starting on the commencement of this section, and

(b) ending on--

(i) 30 September 2021, or

(ii) a later day, not later than 31 March 2022, prescribed by the regulations.