Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by the authority of the Attorney-General, the Honourable Robert McClelland MPNotes on clauses
Clause 1-Short title
9 Clause 1 provides for the Act to be cited as the Statute Law Revision Act (No. 2) 2010 .
Clause 2-Commencement
10 Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the Act.
11 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.
12 The note at the end of the table explains that the table relates only to the provisions of the Act as originally enacted.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.
13 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.
14 The items in Schedule 1 to the Bill amend errors in principal Acts. All items in the Schedule commence on the day this Act receives the Royal Assent. This is because the "slip rule" will have been applied to each error since the enactment of the erroneous provision. This means that the text of the law will have been taken to have been correct, despite the error.
15 Current Commonwealth drafting practice is to avoid retrospective commencement where practicable. Given the application of the slip rule, it is appropriate for these amendments to commence on Royal Assent. The amendments ensure that the text of the law accords with how it would be interpreted.
16 Other amendments relate to errors in numbering, grammatical errors or changes in drafting style, and it is appropriate that these amendments commence on the day this Act receives the Royal Assent because they do not change the substantive content of the law.
17 The items in Schedule 2 to the Bill relate to misdescribed or redundant amendments, or errors, contained in amending Acts. The commencement of items dealing with misdescribed amendments, or amendments where the location of the amendment is unclear, is tied to the time specified in the amending Act for the commencement of the amendment. Some of the items repeal amendments that have become redundant, or correct errors, in amending Acts. These amendments commence on the day this Act receives the Royal Assent.
18 Schedule 3 to the Bill repeals obsolete Acts. The Schedule is to commence on the day this Act receives the Royal Assent.
19 Schedule 4 to the Bill amends the Marriage Act 1961 to make minor changes to spelling in provisions of that Act to ensure the provisions accord with current drafting style. The changes are to spell words with an "s" instead of a "z" (for example, "authorise" instead of "authorize"). Items 1 to 24 of that Schedule commence on the day this Act receives the Royal Assent. Item 25 commences immediately after the commencement of items 1 to 24. This is to ensure that the specific amendments in items 1 to 24 have commenced before the amendments made by item 25 commence, thereby preventing any overlap between various amendments.
20 Schedule 5 to the Bill amends a number of Acts to ensure that Commonwealth Ministers are consistently mentioned by reference to the administration of identified legislation rather than by name, and to ensure that a number of Acts reflect alterations made to them via orders made under subsection 19BA(1) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 . The Schedule is to commence 28 days after Royal Assent.
21 Schedule 6 to the Bill amends a number of Acts to ensure that Departments of State are consistently mentioned by reference to the Minister administering identified legislation or a particular matter rather than by name, to ensure that "Parliamentary Department" is defined consistently for Acts with an ongoing operation and to update references to Parliamentary Departments that have been abolished or amalgamated. Items 1 to 4 commence on the later of the start of the 28th day after Royal Assent and immediately after the commencement of item 10 of Schedule 1 to the Airports Amendment Act 2010 . Items 5 to 60 commence 28 days after Royal Assent. Item 61 commences on the later of the start of the 28th day after Royal Assent and immediately after the commencement of item 46 of Schedule 9 to the National Security Legislation Amendment Act 2010 . Items 62 to 139 commence 28 days after Royal Assent.
22 Schedule 7 to the Bill amends a number of Acts to replace references to the "Secretary to" a Department with references to the "Secretary of" a Department. Items 1 to 147 commence 28 days after Royal Assent. Item 148 commences on the later of the start of the 28th day after Royal Assent and immediately after the commencement of item 2 of Schedule 4 to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2010 .
23 Schedule 8 to the Bill amends a number of Acts to replace references to Departments administering Acts with terminology that makes it clear that Ministers, rather than Departments, administer Acts. The Schedule is to commence 28 days after Royal Assent.
Clause 3-Schedule(s)
24 Clause 3 provides that each Act specified in a Schedule to the Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule and any other item in a Schedule has effect according to its terms. This is a technical provision to give operational effect to the amendments contained in the Schedules.