Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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WATER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF WATER COMPLIANCE AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2021

                                  2019-2020-2021




      THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA




                                   THE SENATE




WATER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF WATER
        COMPLIANCE AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2021




            SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




              Amendments to be Moved on behalf of the Government




(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia,
                                the Hon. Keith Pitt MP)
 AMENDMENTS TO THE WATER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (INSPECTOR-
  GENERAL OF WATER COMPLIANCE AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2021

OUTLINE
The Water Legislation Amendment (Inspector-General of Water Compliance and Other
Measures) Bill 2021 (the Bill) would amend the Water Act 2007 (the Act) to establish the role
of an independent Inspector-General of Water Compliance (Inspector-General) to monitor,
and provide independent oversight of, water compliance.
The purpose of the proposed government amendments (the Amendments) to the Bill is to
limit the application of section 222D to a State or Commonwealth agency and remove the
fault-based offence that would apply where a person fails to give requested compellable
information to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Amendments do not have a financial impact on the Australian Government budget.

STATEMENT OF COMPATABILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
As a result of the Amendments, references to section 222D within the Statement of
Compatibility with Human Rights are no longer appropriate, in the context that this section
no longer contains a fault-based offence.
The Amendments are compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared
in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary
Scrutiny) Act 2011.




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  WATER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF WATER
          COMPLIANCE AND OTHER MEASURES) BILL 2021

                               NOTES ON AMENDMENTS


Amendment (1) - Change to application
Proposed section 222D would limit the application of the provision to a State or
Commonwealth agency.
Amendment (2) - Power to require information--fault-based offence
Item 78 would insert a new Subdivision C in Division 2 of Part 10 and insert a new Division
3 in Part 10. Division 3 of Part 10 would comprise new sections 222D and 222E.
Proposed new section 222D would provide the Authority with the power to require a person
to give specified compellable information to the Authority.
Subsection 222D(3) would have provided that a person commits a fault-based offence if the
person is subject to and fails to comply with a requirement to provide specified compellable
information under new subsection 222D(2). The penalty for the fault-based offence would
have been imprisonment for 6 months or 30 penalty units, or both.
Amendment (2) would amend proposed new section 222D by omitting subsection 222D(3).
The effect of amendment (2) would be that a person who is subject to and fails to comply
with a requirement to provide specified compellable information under new subsection
222D(2) would not be liable to a fault-based offence.




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