Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This bill follows the Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Bill 2014, 'the principal bill'. That bill, amended to accept one recommendation made by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, passed the parliament with Labor support on 5 March 2015. The principal bill implemented the recommendations of a statutory review of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, carried under the former Labor government in 2008. That review was led by an eminent committee, comprising Mr Anthony Blunn AO, Mr Ian Govey, the Australian Government Solicitor, and Professor John McMillan AO.

That bill made a number of reforms to the arrangements for delegated legislation under the Legislative Instruments Acts 2003. The Legislative Instruments Act 2003, now renamed the Legislation Act, sets out a comprehensive regime for the registration, tabling, scrutiny and repeal of legislative instruments.

This bill makes a number of consequential technical, machinery and drafting changes. The bill: updates references across the statute book to the Legislative Instruments Act to reflect the change of name to the Legislation Act; compiles the list of instruments exempt from sunsetting and disallowance, presently found in various locations, into one central list in a regulation which is to be made under the Legislation Act; clarifies the status of rules of court under the Legislation Act; and, finally, repeals spent provisions and makes various technical and drafting corrections to the Legislation Act. These are minor and technical changes.

As Labor indicated when the Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Bill came to this place, we support any measure which makes Commonwealth instruments easier to locate and understand. I commend this bill to the House.