Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to state that the coalition will be supporting this bill. The bill makes minor amendments across 85 Commonwealth acts. These types of bills come before parliament from time to time. Indeed, the former coalition government introduced a very similar bill in 2021 which lapsed at the end of the 46th Parliament.

There are six schedules in this bill. Schedule 1 aims to reduce the number of provisions that require the use of forms that are prescribed by regulation. By way of example, one of the items in the schedule will see an amendment to the Health Insurance Act 1974 to remove the words 'prescribed form' and substitute the words 'approved form'. The amendments in schedule 1 amend provisions to replace the forms prescribed by regulation with other approaches such as empowering regulations to directly mandate the requirements themselves and empowering ministers and other senior decision-makers to approve forms via notifiable instruments, which is consistent with the view of the Attorney-General's Department that prescribed or approved forms should appear on the federal register of legislation. This is in keeping with modern drafting practices.

The main purpose of schedule 2 is to update language related to person with disability to focus on the person rather than the disability across numerous pieces of Commonwealth legislation. These updates do not change the meaning of 'relevant provisions'. The updates give effect to the recommendations made by Economic Justice Australia in its August 2022 research report: Handicapped; use of outdated terminology in social security law and social policy.

Schedule 3 will amend Commonwealth acts that refer to Northern Territory acts to reflect changes the Northern Territory made to citing its acts. This again will change neither the purpose nor the intent of the legislation. Schedules 4 to 6 make amendments to remove technical errors across numerous pieces of legislation and release obsolete acts or spent and obsolete provisions of acts. As we know, from time to time drafting errors occur or obsolete provisions of acts do not get repealed when they are replaced, and provisions to clean up those errors are routine. The amendments in schedules 4 to 6 enhance readability, facilitate interpretation and administration and promote consistency across the Commonwealth statute book. The changes in this bill are minor and technical, do not impact the intent of any statute and will not change the meaning of the relevant legislation except to the extent they reduce the reliance on forms prescribed in legislation. I commend the bill to the Senate.

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is the kind of bill we all live for! The Statute Law Amendment (Prescribed Forms and Other Updates) Bill 2023 is why we spent so much collective effort to find ourselves in the Senate! It was to work our way through the Statute Law Amendment (Prescribed Forms and Other Updates) Bill 2023. This bill amends some 85 Commonwealth acts to enhance administration and promote consistency across the statute book. Schedule 1 changes references in 33 acts to require regulations to specify information required rather than referring to the form provided by the regulations. This is a sensible change which introduces a moderate but necessary amount of flexibility. Indeed, to quote the Attorney, in one of the more memorable phrases from a second reading speech:

These amendments will ensure well-targeted requirements will apply, taking into account the best modern practices available in the relevant circumstances. They will ensure there is still oversight of the information to be provided while enabling flexibility in updating and improving forms.

The bill also makes changes to legislation, including the National Health and Medical Research Council Act 1992, to specify that publication of information is no longer required to be in a form prescribed in the regulations but will just be published on the website.

Schedule 2 updates language relating to disability in a number of acts. I've got to say this is the change that I think is perhaps most important in the bill, because it removes the current, offensive use of 'handicapped' and 'handicap' in the bill. Unfortunately, because it's still in the veterans space, it replaces it with the phrases 'incapacitated' and 'incapacity', and I think we all have an obligation in this place to improve that language. I know it's probably beyond the scope of this bill, because it requires some substantive changes within the veterans statute, but it's something we should put on the agenda to fix. After we do this and remove, quite appropriately, reference to 'handicapped' across the statute book—an important change—I think we then have an obligation to revisit some of the language in the veterans space. It's a matter my office will raise with the minister to seek to advance. I'm advised that those changes are a result of work from Economic Justice Australia and its really important August 2022 research report 'Handicapped': use of outdated terminology in social security law and policy, and I commend the report to the Senate and to anyone who hasn't read it. It's important and useful work, and it was implemented not long after the report was delivered.

Schedule 3 updates references to certain NT acts based on changes in how those are referred to. Schedules 4 to 6 make various technical corrections and repeal some obsolete bills, including the Wool Privatisation Act, which I know the minister has been concerned remains on the statute books. You will be pleased to know that at the end of this it will be removed from the statute books.

I want to thank those, largely in the AG's Department, who have taken the time to identify and escalate these corrections and for making the laws clearer. I commenced this in a lighthearted way, but it must be bloody hard work. It must be genuinely hard work—not exactly glorious work but important work—to go through and tidy up the statute book, and the Greens support the bill and commend it to the Senate.

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank those who have spoken for their contributions to this debate, particularly Senator Shoebridge. I'm sure his thoughts and praise for the department will carry over to Senate estimates in a couple of months as well. I expect to see that in full flight.

The government recognises the importance of maintaining the integrity of the Commonwealth statute book. The Statute Law Amendment (Prescribed Forms and Other Updates) Bill 2023 will amend 85 Commonwealth acts to enhance administration and promote consistency across the statute book. The bill will introduce a number of provisions that require the use of forms to be prescribed by regulations and replace them with other approaches that are best suited to the context of the particular form; update language relating to persons with disability to focus on the person rather than the disability, which I think is, as Senator Shoebridge and others have said, a significant and important reform; update references in Commonwealth acts to Northern Territory acts to make sure these references are consistent with the way the Northern Territory now cites its acts; correct technical errors that have occurred in acts as a result of drafting and clerical mistakes; and repeal spent and obsolete provisions of acts. These ongoing improvements to legislation are important to ensure that the Commonwealth statute book remains up to date, accurate and user friendly. I commend the bill.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.