Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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RETIREMENT SAVINGS ACCOUNTS REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1997 NO. 242

STATUTORY RULES 1997 No. 242

Issued by the authority of the Assistant Treasurer

Retirement Savings Accounts Act 1997

Retirement Savings Accounts Regulations (Amendment)

The Retirement Savings Accounts Act 1997 (the Act) and the Retirement Savings Accounts Regulations (the Principal Regulations) allow banks, building societies, credit unions and life insurance companies to provide superannuation without a trust structure in the form of retirement savings accounts (RSAs), and provides for the functional supervision of RSAs and RSA providers by the, Insurance and Superannuation Commission.

Section 200 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make ' Regulations for the purposes of the Act

Under the provisions of Section 191 of the Act, the Insurance and Superannuation Commissioner has a discretionary power to disclose protected information or to produce a protected document to a law enforcement agency in certain circumstances. Regulation 6.21 of the Principal Regulations prescribes the "law enforcement agencies" for this purpose. The regulations amend the Principal Regulations to insert a new law enforcement agency, namely, the Police Integrity Commission of New South Wales. The amendment is being made at the same time as similar' amendments to the Principal Regulations of other Acts administered by, the ISC to ensure there is consistency of agencies to whom information may be disclosed across all ISC-administered legislation.

The regulations are described in detail in the attachment.

ATTACHMENT

Regulation 1 - Amendment

Regulation 1 is explanatory, and includes a note that these regulations commence on gazettal.

Regulation 2 - Regulation 6.21 (Definition of "law enforcement agency")

Under the provisions of section 191 of the Act, an RSA standards officer is generally prohibited from disclosing protected information or producing protected documents, other than for the purposes of the Act or any other Act administered by the Insurance and superannuation Commission, that have been acquired-by the officer in the course of performing his or her duties as an RSA standards officer.

Certain exceptions to this general rule are provided for in section 191. Paragraph 191(9)(a) and subsection 191(10) provide that protected information may be disclosed, or protected documents produced, to a law enforcement agency for the purposes of the performance by the agency of its functions in relation to an offence or alleged offence against a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory.

'Law, enforcement agency' is defined in subsection 191(20) of the Act as meaning 'a person or body declared by the regulations to be a law enforcement agency for the purposes of this section'.

Regulation 6.21 prescribes the law enforcement agencies for the purposes of section 191 of the Act. This amendment adds the Police Integrity Commission of New South Wales to the list of declared law enforcement agencies.