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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Consumer, Trader and Tenancy
Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
No , 2008
A Bill for
An Act to amend the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act 2001 with respect
to the constitution, jurisdiction, functions and procedure of the Consumer, Trader and
Tenancy Tribunal and the functions, qualifications, education and review of
members of that Tribunal; and for other purposes.
Clause 1 Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment 3
Act 2008. 4
2 Commencement 5
This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation. 6
3 Amendment of Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act 2001 No 82 7
The Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Act 2001 is amended as 8
set out in Schedule 1. 9
4 Repeal of Act 10
(1) This Act is repealed on the day following the day on which all the 11
provisions of this Act have commenced. 12
(2) The repeal of this Act does not, because of the operation of section 30 13
of the Interpretation Act 1987, affect any amendment made by this Act. 14
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Amendments Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendments 1
(Section 3) 2
[1] Section 4 Definitions 3
Omit the definition of Director-General from section 4 (1). 4
Insert in alphabetical order: 5
Commissioner for Fair Trading means the Commissioner for 6
Fair Trading, Department of Commerce or if there is no such 7
position in the Department--the Director-General. 8
Director-General means the Director-General of the Department 9
of Commerce. 10
[2] Section 8 Qualifications of members 11
Omit section 8 (1). Insert instead: 12
(1) A person is not eligible to be appointed as the Chairperson or the 13
Deputy Chairperson (Determinations) unless the person is an 14
Australian lawyer. 15
[3] Section 8 (3) (d) 16
Omit the paragraph. Insert instead: 17
(d) whether the person has ability or experience in alternative 18
dispute resolution procedures. 19
[4] Section 12 Functions of Chairperson 20
Insert after section 12 (2) (c): 21
(c1) to give procedural directions with respect to a particular 22
class or particular classes of proceedings, 23
[5] Sections 13 (2), 31, 72 (1) and (3) and 85 24
Omit "Director-General" wherever occurring. 25
Insert instead "Commissioner for Fair Trading". 26
[6] Section 20 Functions of Registrar and Deputy Registrars 27
Insert after section 20 (1) (a): 28
(a1) any function of a member or the Tribunal under this Act 29
that is prescribed by the regulations and that the 30
Chairperson authorises the Registrar to exercise, 31
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Schedule 1 Amendments
[7] Section 20 (2) (a) 1
Insert "or the Chairperson" after "Registrar". 2
[8] Section 41 Witness may be apprehended 3
Omit the section. 4
[9] Section 43 Enforcement of certain Tribunal orders 5
Insert ", within 12 months after the end of the period," after "with the 6
Tribunal" in section 43 (2). 7
[10] Section 46 Tribunal may reserve decision 8
Omit "reserved decision of the Tribunal" from section 46 (2). 9
Insert instead "decision of the Tribunal that has been reserved". 10
[11] Section 49 Notice of decisions and reasons 11
Omit "7 days" from section 49 (2). Insert instead "28 days". 12
[12] Section 68 Rehearings by Tribunal 13
Insert after section 68 (9): 14
(9A) If an application is refused, a person may make a further 15
application under this section, but only if the application is made 16
within the time prescribed by the regulations and the Chairperson 17
is satisfied that: 18
(a) significant new evidence has arisen since the application 19
was refused, and 20
(b) that evidence suggests a substantial injustice to one or 21
more parties to the proceedings has occurred. 22
[13] Section 68 (13) (a) 23
Omit "was more than $25,000 (or such other amount as may be prescribed by 24
the regulations)". 25
Insert instead "is more than the amount prescribed by the regulations". 26
[14] Section 80A 27
Insert after section 80: 28
80A Sound recording of hearings 29
The Tribunal must ensure that, as far as is reasonably practicable, 30
sound recordings of all proceedings of the Tribunal are made and 31
kept for such period as may be prescribed by the regulations, or 32
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Amendments Schedule 1
if no such period is prescribed, for a reasonable time after the end 1
of the relevant proceedings. 2
[15] Schedule 1 Divisions of the Tribunal 3
Omit "(b)-(h)" from clause 1 (a) (ii). Insert instead "(b)-(i)". 4
[16] Schedule 1, clause 1 (h) (i) 5
Insert "(other than matters that relate to social housing premises within the 6
meaning of that Act)" after "Residential Tenancies Act 1987". 7
[17] Schedule 1, clause 1 (h) (ii) 8
Insert "or matters that relate to social housing premises within the meaning of 9
the Residential Tenancies Act 1987" after "parks". 10
[18] Schedule 1, clause 1 (i) 11
Insert after clause 1 (h): 12
(i) the Social Housing Division, in which the Tribunal's 13
jurisdiction is to be exercised in respect of matters arising 14
under the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 or the Landlord 15
and Tenant (Rental Bonds) Act 1977 (or both) that relate to 16
social housing premises, within the meaning of the 17
Residential Tenancies Act 1987. 18
[19] Schedule 2 Provisions relating to members 19
Omit "appointed on a full-time basis is, while working on a full-time basis," 20
from clause 4 (1). 21
Insert instead "is". 22
[20] Schedule 2, clause 4 (2) 23
Omit the subclause. 24
[21] Schedule 2, clause 7 (2) (e) 25
Omit "Peer Review Panel (as referred to in clause 2 of Schedule 3)". 26
Insert instead "Professional Practice and Review Committee (as referred to in 27
Part 2 of Schedule 3)". 28
[22] Schedule 3 Performance management and review 29
Insert before clause 1: 30
Part 1 Performance agreements and code of 31
conduct 32
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Schedule 1 Amendments
[23] Schedule 3, Part 2 1
Omit clause 2. Insert instead: 2
Part 2 Professional Practice and Review 3
Committee 4
2 Constitution of Committee 5
(1) A Professional Practice and Review Committee is established by 6
this Act. 7
(2) The Committee is to consist of the following: 8
(a) the Commissioner for Fair Trading, 9
(b) the Chairperson, 10
(c) the Deputy Chairperson (Registry and Administration), 11
(d) the Deputy Chairperson (Determinations), 12
(e) 2 other persons appointed by the Minister who the Minister 13
considers to have expertise in consumer protection, ethics, 14
dispute resolution, education or public administration, one 15
of whom is to be appointed as the Chair of the Committee 16
by the Minister. 17
3 Functions of Committee 18
(1) The functions of the Committee are to review and provide advice 19
on matters that are referred to it by the Minister, the 20
Commissioner for Fair Trading, the Chairperson or any other 21
person prescribed by the regulations. 22
(2) Such matters are to relate to one or more of the following: 23
(a) the education, training or professional development of 24
members, 25
(b) the performance or management of members, 26
(c) complaints against members and remedial or disciplinary 27
action to be taken in relation to any such complaints, 28
(d) trends in complaints or performance, 29
(e) any other matter prescribed by the regulations. 30
(3) The Committee may recommend to the Minister that a member 31
who is the subject of a review by the Committee should, or should 32
not, continue to hold office as a member. 33
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Amendments Schedule 1
(4) One or more members of the Committee, if dissatisfied with an 1
advice provided by the Committee in relation to a matter, may 2
provide a minority advice on the matter to the person who 3
referred the matter to the Committee. 4
4 Review of certain members of Committee 5
(1) In any case where the Chairperson or the Deputy Chairperson 6
(Determinations) is the member who is the subject of a review, 7
the Minister is to convene the Committee in such manner as the 8
Minister thinks appropriate. 9
(2) The Deputy Chairperson (Registry and Administration) cannot 10
be the subject of a review under this Part. 11
5 General procedure 12
The procedure for the calling of meetings of the Committee and 13
for the conduct of business at those meetings is, subject to this 14
Act and the regulations, to be as determined by the Committee. 15
6 Quorum 16
The quorum for a meeting of the Committee is a majority of its 17
members for the time being. However, that majority must include 18
at least one of the members appointed under clause 2 (2) (e). 19
7 Presiding member 20
(1) The Chair of the Committee (or in the absence of the Chair, a 21
person elected by the members of the Committee who are present 22
at a meeting of the Committee) is to preside at a meeting of the 23
Committee. 24
(2) The presiding member has a deliberative vote and, in the event of 25
an equality of votes, has a second or casting vote. 26
8 Voting 27
A decision supported by a majority of the votes cast at a meeting 28
of the Committee at which a quorum is present is the decision of 29
the Committee. 30
9 Transaction of business outside meetings or by telephone 31
(1) The Committee may, if it thinks fit, transact any of its business 32
by the circulation of papers among all the members of the 33
Committee for the time being, and a resolution in writing 34
approved in writing by a majority of those members is taken to be 35
a decision of the Committee. 36
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Schedule 1 Amendments
(2) The Committee may, if it thinks fit, transact any of its business at 1
a meeting at which members (or some members) participate by 2
telephone, closed-circuit television or other means, but only if 3
any member who speaks on a matter before the meeting can be 4
heard by the other members. 5
(3) For the purposes of: 6
(a) the approval of a resolution under subclause (1), or 7
(b) a meeting held in accordance with subclause (2), 8
the Chair of the Committee and each member have the same 9
voting rights as they have at an ordinary meeting of the 10
Committee. 11
(4) A resolution approved under subclause (1) is, subject to the 12
regulations, to be recorded in the minutes of the meetings of the 13
Committee. 14
(5) Papers may be circulated among the members for the purposes of 15
subclause (1) by facsimile or other transmission of the 16
information in the papers concerned. 17
10 Meetings 18
The Committee is to meet at least 3 times in each year and is to 19
meet at such other times as the Chair of the Committee thinks fit. 20
11 Minutes 21
A copy of the minutes for each meeting of the Committee is to be 22
provided to the Minister as soon as reasonably practicable after 23
the meeting. 24
12 Annual report 25
The annual report of the Tribunal under section 84 is to include a 26
statement describing the functions and activities of the 27
Committee. 28
[24] Schedule 6 Savings, transitional and other provisions 29
Omit clause 1 (1). Insert instead: 30
(1) The regulations may contain provisions of a savings or 31
transitional nature consequent on the enactment of the following 32
Acts: 33
this Act 34
Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Act 2008 35
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Amendments Schedule 1
[25] Schedule 6, clause 1 (2) 1
Omit "to this Act". Insert instead "to the Act concerned". 2
[26] Schedule 6, Part 3 3
Insert after Part 2: 4
Part 3 Provisions consequent on enactment of 5
Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal 6
Amendment Act 2008 7
10 Definition 8
In this Part: 9
amending Act means the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy 10
Tribunal Amendment Act 2008. 11
11 Enforcement of orders 12
Section 43, as amended by the amending Act, extends to an order 13
made before that amendment and to any recommencement of 14
proceedings in relation to that order. 15
12 Reasons for decisions 16
Section 49, as amended by the amending Act, extends to a notice 17
given under that section before the amendment. 18
13 Rehearings by Tribunal 19
Section 68 (13) (a), as amended by the amending Act, does not 20
apply to an application made before the amendment, and that 21
paragraph continues to apply to any such application as if the 22
amendment had not been made. 23
14 Social Housing Division 24
Schedule 1, as amended by the amending Act, does not apply in 25
respect of a matter for which an application has been made to the 26
Tribunal under section 24 before those amendments, and that 27
Schedule continues to apply in respect of any such matter as if 28
those amendments had not been made. 29
15 Remuneration of members 30
Clause 4 of Schedule 2, as amended by the amending Act, applies 31
only in respect of remuneration for work performed after those 32
amendments. 33
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Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal Amendment Bill 2008
Schedule 1 Amendments
16 Professional Practice and Review Committee 1
(1) A matter that was referred to the Peer Review Panel before the 2
commencement of Part 2 of Schedule 3, and that has not been 3
fully dealt with by that Panel is, on the commencement of that 4
Part, taken to have been referred to the Professional Practice and 5
Review Committee and is to be dealt with accordingly. 6
(2) A member of the Peer Review Panel is not entitled to be paid any 7
compensation as a consequence of the substitution of clause 2 of 8
Schedule 3 by the amending Act. 9
Page 10
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