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CLAUSE NOTES
Place Names Bill 2019
PART 1 - PRELIMINARY
Clause 1 Short Title
Clause 2 Commencement
The provisions of this Act commence on a day or days to be proclaimed.
Clause 3 Interpretation
This Clause defines key terms in the Act.
Clause 4 Meaning of place
This Clause removes ambiguity from the meaning of place in the current
legislation, and ensures consistency with the manner that place is described in
other jurisdictions. The terms ‘town or city’ are specifically excluded from the
definition of place, as the naming of towns and cities are accommodated in the
Local Government Act 1993.
PART 2 - ADMINISTRATION
Clause 5 Minister may make Guidelines
This Clause enables the Minister to endorse Guidelines in respect of naming
places. The Guidelines will set out the principles, practices and processes to be
followed in selecting, assigning, altering or discontinuing place names, and require
and specify the procedures for consultation in respect of place name submissions.
The Guidelines will specify the persons responsible for proposing certain names,
and set out their responsibilities. The Guidelines will be made publicly available in
an electronic format and will be reviewed regularly.
Clause 6 Place Names Advisory Panel
This Clause establishes the Place Names Advisory Panel. The Panel will consist of
the Surveyor General as Chair, a senior spatial data and mapping officer from the
Department, a person nominated by the Director of Parks and Wildlife Service,
a person nominated by the Local Government Association of Tasmania, a
community member with knowledge and experience in outdoor recreation, and
up to two community members with knowledge and experience in heritage or
historical matters, and linguistics. The Clause also provides for additional members
to be appointed by the Minister as prescribed by Regulation. Other than the
Surveyor General and the Senior Departmental officer, all other members of the
Panel are appointed by the Minister.
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Clause 7 Registrar of Place Names
This Clause establishes the Registrar of Place Names. The Registrar is to be
appointed by the Secretary of the Department, and is to maintain and make
available the Guidelines, and to maintain the Register of Place Names. The
Registrar is to make entries in the Register as names are approved and is to make
amendments when alterations are approved. The Registrar is empowered to
make minor amendments to the Register such as typographical corrections or
minor changes to the extent of a place when there is no impact on community
use or expectation around that place.
Clause 8 Register of Place Names
This Clause establishes the Register of Place Names. An entry in the Register is
to include each approved name for a place, and include the location, boundaries
or extent of the approved place. The Register may also include for information
purposes the names of areas and features that are not required to have approved
names, or that have been named under other Acts. The Register will be in an
electronic format or as otherwise determined by the Surveyor General, and will
be made available to the public. The existing Placenames Tasmania database,
accessed via the Placenames Tasmania web portal (www.placenames.tas.gov.au)
will be the Register available at commencement.
PART 3 – PLACE NAMES
Clause 9 Proposal of Certain Place Names
This Clause applies to places other than roads or streets. In this Clause, a naming
proposal for a new name, or an alteration of an approved name, or the alteration
of the extent of an approved name may be submitted to the Registrar in
accordance with the Guidelines. The Registrar may refuse to accept the proposal
if he or she believes that the consultation requirements in the Guidelines have
not been complied with or if the proposal does not adhere to the Guidelines.
Clause 10 Approval of Certain Place Names
This Clause relates to the approval processes for place names submitted in
accordance with the Guidelines. If the proposal is not for a minor revision as
outlined in Clause 7, the Registrar must cause the proposal to be advertised in
accordance with the Guidelines. At the end of the specified advertising period,
the Registrar must forward the proposal together with any submissions received
during the advertising period, to the Panel. The Panel must consider the proposal
and any submissions received, and as soon as practicable, make a
recommendation to the Minister in respect of the proposal. After considering the
Panel’s recommendations, the Minister may either approve the recommendation,
which may be to assign or alter, or revoke a name, or refuse to accept the Panel’s
recommendation in which case the Minister may request that the Panel
reconsider the matter and make a new recommendation. With respect to names
approved by the Minister under this Clause, the name is approved once the
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Minister makes his or her decision, and the approved name is reflected in the
Register and made publicly available. The Registrar may then cause a notice to be
published in the Gazette specifying the details of the decision.
Clause 11 Naming of roads, streets, &c.
This Clause pertains to the naming of roads and streets. In this Clause the
Responsible Authority is the authority that has naming responsibility for the road
or street or State highway. In accordance with the Guidelines, the Responsible
Authority may name the road or street, alter or revoke the name of a road or
street, or amend the extent of a road or street. These actions may be made by
the Responsible Authority so long as the name, alteration or revocation complies
with the relevant provisions of the Guidelines, and the Act, and the relevant
procedures of the Responsible Authority. Once an acceptable naming decision is
received by the Registrar from a Responsible Authority, an entry is to be made in
the Register to reflect that action. At this point a naming action submitted in
accordance with this clause and entered into the Register, and made available to
the public is taken to be an approved name.
The Registrar may only refuse a submission from a Responsible Authority under
this Clause if the naming action does not comply with the Guidelines, or if the
proposed name is the same as an approved name for another place.
If the Registrar is unable to resolve a suitable naming submission with the
Responsible Authority, the Registrar is to submit the naming action to the Panel
for consideration, and then the matter proceeds as described in Clause 10,
including that the Panel makes a recommendation to the Minister for a decision.
Clause 12 Registrar to record names in Register
This Clause requires the Registrar to make or amend an entry in the Register as
soon as he or she is notified of a decision of the Minister or a naming action under
Clause 11. A name is the approved name for a place once the Register is so
amended, and the Register is made available to the public.
Clause 13 Person must not misrepresent name of place
This Clause introduces provisions for penalties to apply if the name of a place is
deliberately misrepresented. This is a provision that has not been present in
Tasmania before but is present in other Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions.
The Clause provides that a person must not in a document, brochure, map, notice
or advertisement identify a place that is not the approved name for the place if
the person knows or reasonably ought to know that such identification is likely
to, or has the capacity to, mislead or deceive another person. This includes if the
person represents that a place has an approved name when there is no approved
name for the place. The penalty provisions are in terms of a fine not exceeding
50 penalty units for a body corporate, and not exceeding 20 penalty units for an
individual. Further fines are available for each day during which the offence
continues. This Clause is not intended to apply to circumstances where a portion
of an approved name is used, such as when an Aboriginal or Dual name such as
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kunanyi – Mount Wellington is used. In accordance with the Aboriginal and Dual
Naming Policy recently revised by the Government, either or both names in this
example are permitted without sanction. An example of deliberate
misrepresentation of a name is when a party may suggest a lot for sale is in one
locality, when it is in fact in another. This has the potential to mislead a potential
purchaser, and may have consequences for their future development plans, bank
loans and insurance considerations.
PART 4 – MISCELLANEOUS
Clause 14 Delegation
This Clause provides for the Minister to delegate any of his or her functions or
powers under the Act other than those described in Clauses 5 and 10. Those
Clauses refer to the power to endorse Guidelines and the power to approve
names upon the recommendation of the Panel. The Minister may also not
delegate his or her power of delegation.
Clause 15 Warning notices
This Clause provides for the Panel to issue Warning Notices to a person if the
Panel reasonably believes that the person has committed an offence under the
Act. The Warning Notice is to be in a form approved by the Panel and a person
may not be prosecuted in respect of the offence unless the Warning Notice has
been withdrawn by the Panel.
Clause 16 Infringement notices
This Clause provides for the Surveyor General or the Chairperson to issue
Infringement Notices if the Surveyor General or the Chairperson reasonably
believes that a person has committed an infringement offence against the Act or
the regulations made under the Act. An Infringement Notices is to be issued in
accordance with Section 14 of the Monetary Penalties Enforcement Act 2005, and
is to be an amount up to 10% of the maximum applicable penalty for the offence.
The provisions for Warning Notices and Infringement Notices allow the Panel
and the Surveyor General to take graduated action with respect to offences in
proportion to the nature and severity of the offence.
Clause 17 Regulations
This Clause allows the Governor to make Regulations for the purposes of the
Act. The Regulations may be made in relation to fees and charges, costs of
proceedings, and other matters that may be specified in the Guidelines, or the
process for reviewing and appealing a decision of the Panel or Registrar. The
Regulations may provide that a contravention of any of the Regulations is an
offence, and in respect of such an offence, a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units
can be imposed, and in the case of a continuing offence, a further fine not
exceeding 5 penalty units for each day during which the offence continues. The
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Regulations may authorise any matter from time to time to be approved,
determined, applied or regulated by the Surveyor General, chairperson or Panel.
Clause 18 Administration of Act
This Clause assigns the administration of the Act to the Minister for Primary
Industries and Water, and the Department responsible to that Minister in relation
to administration of the Act is the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water
and Environment.
Clause 19 Savings and Transitional
The savings and transitional provisions set out in Schedule 2 have effect.
Clause 20 Consequential Amendments
The legislation specified in Schedule 3 is amended as specified in that Schedule.
SCHEDULE 1 – PLACE NAMES ADVISORY PANEL
This Schedule details provisions in relation to the Place Names Advisory Panel,
including the term of office, the application of the State Service Act 2000,
remuneration and conditions of appointment, vacation of office, filling of vacancies,
meeting conventions including quorum and voting, and disclosure of interests.
SCHEDULE 2 – SAVINGS AND TRANSITIONAL
This Schedule describes the process for dealing with matters that are underway
in accordance with the former Act when the new Act is commenced.
The Nomenclature Board is taken to be wound up on the commencement day
of the new Act.
SCHEDULE 3 – CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
This Schedule lists all consequential amendments to other legislation. The affected
Acts are:
Crown Lands Act 1976
Local Government Act 1993
Nature Conservation Act 2002
Survey Coordination Act 1944
Section 2 of the Survey Coordination Act 1944 is amended by omitting the
definition of Board.
Sections 20A, 20AB, 20B, 20C, 20D, 20E, 20F, 20G, 20H, 20J, and 20K of the
Survey Coordination Act 1944 are repealed.
These are the sections of the Survey Coordination Act 1944 that relate to
nomenclature.
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