Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
2013-2014
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AMENDING ACTS 1901 TO 1969 REPEAL BILL 2014
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the
Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC)
AMENDING ACTS 1901 TO 1969 REPEAL BILL 2014
GENERAL OUTLINE
The main purpose of this Bill is to repeal amending and repeal Acts (which will result in the
repeal of over 1,000 Acts).
Repeal of the Acts is desirable because it will reduce the regulatory burden and make
accessing the law simpler for both businesses and individuals. It will also facilitate the
publication of consolidated versions of Acts by the Commonwealth and by private publishers
of legislation.
This Bill does not deal with the repeal of Acts enacted after 1969. Amending Acts enacted
after 1969 will be repealed separately at a later date.
In all cases, the repeal of the Acts will not substantially alter existing arrangements or make
any change to the substance of the law. The Acts will remain publically accessible on
ComLaw as historical records.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
This Bill will have no financial impact.
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STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Amending Acts 1901 to 1969 Repeal Bill 2014
This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
Act 2011.
Overview of the Bill
The main purpose of this Bill is to repeal amending and repeal Acts.
Repeal of the Acts is desirable because it will reduce the regulatory burden and make
accessing the law simpler for both businesses and individuals. It will also facilitate the
publication of consolidated versions of Acts by the Commonwealth and by private publishers
of legislation.
None of the repeals make any change to the substance of the law.
Human rights implications
The amendments repeal amending and repeal Acts. The amendments improve the ease of
administration of legislation and reduce the regulatory burden by making the statute book
clearer and more efficient to use. They do not engage any human rights issues.
Conclusion
The Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
Act 2011, as it does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms or alter any human
rights safeguards currently in place.
Senator the Hon George Brandis QC
Attorney-General
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Notes on clauses
Clause 1--Short title
1 Clause 1 provides for the Act to be cited as the Amending Acts 1901 to 1969 Repeal
Act 2014.
Clause 2--Commencement
2 Subclause 2(1) provides that each provision of the Act specified in column 1 of the
table set out in the subclause commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with
column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
3 The note at the end of the table explains that the table relates only to the provisions of
the Act as originally enacted. The table will not be amended to deal with any later
amendments of the Act.
4 Subclause 2(2) provides that any information in column 3 of the table is not part of
the Act. It also clarifies that information may be inserted in column 3, or information in it
may be edited, in any published version of the Act.
5 Schedule 1 to the Bill repeals Acts. It commences 28 days after this Act receives the
Royal Assent. This commencement is in keeping with current Commonwealth drafting
practice, which is to avoid retrospective commencements where practicable.
Clause 3--Repeal of Acts
6 Clause 3 and Schedule 1 repeal amending and repeal Acts, some of which also
contain application, saving or transitional provisions. The amendments and repeals have
happened, and therefore the Acts are no longer required. If any application, saving or
transitional provision is included in one of those Acts, any ongoing operation of the provision
is preserved. The Acts do not contain any other substantive provisions which are not already
spent.
7 The repeal of an Act mentioned in Schedule 1 does not affect any amendment or
repeal made by the amending Act being repealed (see section 7 of the Acts Interpretation Act
1901), or affect the continuing operation of any application, saving or transitional provision
(see subclause 3(2)).
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Schedule 1--Repeal of Acts
8 This Schedule repeals amending and repeal Acts, some of which also contain
application, saving or transitional provisions. The amendments and repeals have happened,
and therefore the Acts are no longer required. If any application, saving or transitional
provision is included in one of those Acts, any ongoing operation of the provision is
preserved. The Acts do not contain any other substantive provisions which are not already
spent.
9 The repeal of an Act mentioned in Schedule 1 does not affect any amendment or
repeal made by the amending Act being repealed (see section 7 of the Acts Interpretation Act
1901), or affect the continuing operation of any application, saving or transitional provision
(see subclause 3(2)).
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