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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Australian Heritage Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2000
Date Introduced: 7 December 2000
Portfolio: Environment and Heritage
Commencement: At the same time as the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Bill (No.2) receives Royal assent.
To repeal the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975 and establish transitional arrangements in relation to the proposed new Commonwealth heritage regime.
The Australian Heritage Council (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2000 (the Bill) is part of a package of three Bills designed to replace the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975.
The major Bill of the package is the Environment and Heritage Legislation Amendment Bill (No.2) 2000 and readers are referred to Bills Digest No.105 2000-01 for discussion of the proposed new Commonwealth heritage regime.
Schedule 1 - Repeals and Amendments
Item 1 repeals the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975.
Item 2 repeals subsection 9(3) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Subsection 9(3) provides that a decision or a granting of an approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 does not constitute an action under section 30 of the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975.(1) Item 1 makes subsection 9(3) redundant.
Schedule 2 - Transitional provisions
Item 3 provides that any rights, properties, assets, debts, liabilities or obligations of the Australian Heritage Commission become vested in the Commonwealth upon the Bill coming into force.
Item 4 allows for the registration by the relevant State or Territory's land titles office of the Commonwealth's right, title or interest in any land vested in it as a result of item 3. The Minister must provide written certification of the vesting in order for Commonwealth's right, title or interest to be registered.
Item 5 is similar to item 4 but deals with assets other than land. In this case, registration would be by an 'assets official'. An 'assets official' is defined in item 5 as the 'person or authority who, under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, under a trust instrument or otherwise, has responsibility for keeping a register in relation to assets of the kind concerned'.
Item 6 provides that the Lands Acquisition Act 1989 does not apply to anything done under Schedule 2. Such a provision commonly appears in legislation dealing with the sale of Commonwealth assets or the winding up of Commonwealth statutory authorities.(2)
Item 7 exempts the Commonwealth from having to pay any State or Territory stamp or other tax as a result of the vesting or transfer of an asset or liability under Schedule 2.
Item 8 relates to any Court proceedings involving the Australian Heritage Commission at the time the Commission is abolished by item 1. In such cases, the Commonwealth is substituted as the relevant party in place of the Australian Heritage Commission.
Section 516 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 requires the Environment Secretary to prepare an annual report on the operation of that Act. Item 9 provides that this report must include a report on the Australian Heritage Commission for the period from the last July 1 before the Bill commences to the date the Bill commences.
Item 10 allows for regulations to prescribe arrangements to deal 'with any issues of a transitional nature arising as a result of the repeal of the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975'.
Angus Martyn
30 March 2001
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared for general distribution to Senators and Members of the Australian Parliament. While great care is taken to ensure that the paper is accurate and balanced, the paper is written using information publicly available at the time of production. The views expressed are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Information and Research Services (IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional legal opinion. Readers are reminded that the paper is not an official parliamentary or Australian government document.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 2000
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 2000.