Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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CIVIL LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2018

                        2016 - 2017 - 2018




  THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA




                            SENATE




CIVIL LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2017




     ADDENDUM TO THE EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




                  (Circulated by authority of the
       Attorney-General, the Honourable Christian Porter MP)
CIVIL LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2017


The purpose of this addendum is to provide clarification to the Explanatory Memorandum to
the Civil Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. The corrections:

      clarify that existing sections 122A and 122AA of the Family Law Act 1975, that
       enable authorised persons to use certain powers to make arrests, currently enable
       Australian Border Force officers to be authorised to exercise arrest powers under the
       Act,
      clarify that amended sections 122A and 122AA of the Family Law Act 1975, would
       continue to enable Australian Border Force officers to be authorised to exercise arrest
       powers under the Act,
      update references in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Marriage Regulations 1968
       to cross-reference the Marriage Regulations 2017 which were made on
       16 October 2017 and will commence on 1 April 2018
      reflect amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 made by the Marriage Amendment
       (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017, specifically in relation to the creation
       of the category of 'religious marriage celebrants', and
      provide further clarification in response to concerns raised in the Bills Digest No 120,
       2016-17, in respect of an amendment to the Schedule to the Marriage Act.


NOTES ON CLAUSES

Schedule 6 - Part 1 - Family Law Act 1975

New Section 122A - Making arrests under this Act or warrants

On page 45, at the end of paragraph 195, omit the following words:

"The urgency of ensuring children are not abducted internationally warrants the extension of
these powers to officers of the Australian Border Force"

On page 45, at the end of paragraph 195, after the word "overseas.", insert the following
words:

"Combatting instances of international child abduction will be supported with Australian
Border Force officers remaining authorised to exercise arrest powers under the Act."




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Schedule 9 - Marriage Act 1961

On page 70, after the words "Marriage Regulations 1963" in paragraph 369, insert the
following words:

"(or by regulation 43 of the Marriage Regulations 2017, which will commence on 1 April
2018)."

On page 71, replace paragraph 374 with the following text:

"374. Under subsection 39J(1) of the Marriage Act, an application for review can be made to
the AAT in respect of decisions of the Registrar to:
           not register a person as a celebrant
           suspend a person's deregistration
           deregister a marriage celebrant
           not identify a person as a religious marriage celebrant on the register, or
           remove the identification of a person as a religious marriage celebrant from the
            register, either for a specified period or permanently.

The right of review in the AAT does not apply in relation to the other disciplinary measures
that may be taken under subsection 39I(2) (that is, the imposition of a caution or the
requirement to undertake additional professional development). However, the Marriage Act
requires that a notice in relation to disciplinary measures sent under
subparagraph 39I(4)(a)(iv) must inform the celebrant of their right to apply for review, even
where no right to apply for review exists.

On page 73, at the end of paragraph 386, add the following words:

"This item also presents the information in a more simplified table format."

On page 73, after paragraph 386, insert the following paragraph:

"Amendments in Schedule 1, Part 4, of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious
Freedoms) Act 2017, would commence immediately after enactment of this Bill, to amend
section 115 to provide for the details that must be published on the register in respect of
religious marriage celebrants."

On page 73, omit the following words from paragraph 388:

", which was written in the 1960s and last amended in 1988,"

On page 73, at the end of paragraph 391, insert the following words:

"If a parenting order did not make express reference, or necessarily require, that a particular
parent has parental responsibility in relation to consent for the minor to marry (see
subsection 61D(2) of the Family Law Act 1975), the parental responsibility would be jointly
held."


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