House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC)

Schedule 9 - Spent and obsolete provisions

Part 1 - Spent repeals and amendments

100 Some older principal Acts on the statute book contain provisions repealing and amending other Acts. Those provisions are now obsolete. To reduce the length of those principal Acts and to make the publishing and use of those principal Acts more efficient, most of the items in this Part repeal those obsolete provisions and make minor consequential amendments.

Item 1

101 Item 1 repeals items 1 to 10 of Schedule 2 to the Crimes at Sea Act 2000, which amended various Acts. As those amendments have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

Item 2

102 Item 2 repeals Part 3 of the Data-matching Program (Assistance and Tax) Act 1990, which amended the Privacy Act 1988. As those amendments have taken effect, that Part is obsolete.

Items 3 and 4

103 Items 3 and 4 repeal Part 3 of, and Schedules 1 and 2 to, the Health Insurance Commission (Reform and Separation of Functions) Act 1997. Most of those items amended various Acts and regulations. Those amendments have taken effect and therefore are obsolete. Items 31 to 34 and 73 to 80 of Schedule 1 and items 4 to 6 of Schedule 2 to the Health Insurance Commission (Reform and Separation of Functions) Act 1997 are of a transitional nature. Those provisions are now spent and therefore they are repealed by these items.

Items 5 and 6

104 Items 5 and 6 repeal Part 3 of, and Schedules 2 to 4 to, the Hearing Services and AGHS Reform Act 1997, which amended various Acts. As those amendments have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

Item 7

105 Item 7 repeals Part 10 of the Military Superannuation and Benefits Act 1991, which amended the Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Act 1973. As those amendments have taken effect, that Part is obsolete.

Part 2 - Spent provisions

106 This Part amends and repeals non-amending provisions that have been sunsetted or otherwise ceased to have effect.

Items 8 to 17

107 Items 8 to 17 are related. Sections 72.20 and 72.21 of the Criminal Code commenced in 2007. Section 72.20 is spent as under subsection 72.20(3) a Minister could only issue an authorisation regarding plastic explosives on the condition that they be destroyed or made permanently ineffective within three years of the commencement of section 72.20. Therefore, it is now impossible for a Minister to issue an authorisation under section 72.20. Section 72.21 is also spent as subsection 72.21(5) provided that the section ceased to have effect at the end of 6 months after commencement. So sections 72.20 and 72.21 and cross-references to them are redundant and are repealed by these related items. Item 12 also remakes subsection 72.19(1) to omit a paragraph in order to remove the cross-references.

Item 18

108 Item 18 repeals subsection 9(2) of the Health and Other Services (Compensation) Act 1995. That relates only to nursing home benefit that was payable under provisions of the National Health Act 1953 repealed by item 39 of Schedule 3 to the Aged Care Amendment Act 2011.

Item 19

109 Section 89 of the Wheat Export Marketing Act 2008 provided for a review to occur by 1 January 2010 with a report of the review to be given to the Minister before 1 July 2010. The review has occurred and the report has been given to the Minister, so the section is now spent. Item 19 repeals the section.