Matters of interest to the Senate [2021] AUSStaCSDLM 109 (15 July 2021)

• Chapter 2
• Matters of interest to the Senate

Chapter 2

Matters of interest to the Senate

2.1 Senate standing order 23(4) requires the committee to scrutinise each instrument to determine whether the Senate's attention should be drawn to it on the ground that it raises significant issues, or otherwise gives rise to issues that are likely to be of interest to the Senate.

2.2 This chapter identifies the instruments which the committee has resolved to draw to the attention of the Senate and the relevant legislation committee under standing order 23(4), with the exception of instruments which specify significant executive expenditure, which are listed in Chapter 3.^[1]

Instrument	Purpose	Portfolio committee
Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Regulations 2021 [F2021L00863]	The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (the Act) provides for the registration and regulation of charities by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). An entity is entitled to registration under the Act if it meets specified requirements, including the requirement to comply with the governance standards set out in the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulation 2013. Registration under the Act is a necessary precondition for access to a range of exemptions, benefits, and concessions, including certain Commonwealth tax concessions. Governance standard 3 currently provides that registered entities must not engage in conduct that may be dealt with as an indictable offence under an Australian law or by way of a civil penalty of 60 penalty units or more. These regulations provide that an entity may not be entitled to be registered or remain registered under the Act if: • the entity engages in conduct that may be dealt with as a relevant kind of summary offence under an Australian law; or • the entity fails to maintain reasonable internal control procedures to ensure its resources are not used to actively promote another entity’s acts or omissions that may be dealt with as an indictable offence, a relevant kind of summary offence, or a civil penalty of 60 penalty units or more. Examples of the kinds of summary offences that are covered include: • trespass to land or premises (including buildings, vehicles etc.); • vandalism; • theft of personal property; • common assault; and • threatening violence against an individual. Case study (see explanatory statement, p. 5): A registered entity exists to relieve poverty in Australia and internationally. As part of its activities, it occasionally advocates against the outsourcing of labour from domestic manufacturers to overseas manufacturers. The registered entity organises an event to trespass onto the property of an Australian company that outsources its labour overseas. The registered entity has failed to comply with the new requirement by engaging in conduct that may be dealt with as a summary offence relating to entering or remaining on real property.	Senate Economics Legislation Committee
Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 [F2021L00488]	To set the requirements that a higher education provider must meet, and continue to meet, in order to be registered by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) to operate in Australia. They provide the basis for the regulation of Australian higher education providers by TEQSA. The Threshold Standards ensure that the barrier to entry into the higher education sector is set sufficiently high to underpin and protect the quality and reputation of the sector as a whole. The Threshold Standards also serve other broader purposes in Australian higher education including: • an articulation of the expectations for provision of higher education in Australia as: o a guide to the quality of educational experiences that students should expect o a reference for international comparisons of the provision of higher education o a reference for other interested parties; and • a model framework which higher education providers can themselves apply for the internal monitoring, quality assurance and quality improvement of their higher education activities.	Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee
Therapeutic Goods (Exempt Monographs) Determination 2021 [F2021L00594] Therapeutic Goods (Standard for Nicotine Vaping Products) (TGO 110) Order 2021 [F2021L00595]	The Order is intended to address concerns held by medical practitioners and pharmacists about the lack of information and controls regarding unregistered nicotine vaping products by establishing minimum safety and quality requirements for unregistered nicotine vaping products with a view to: • ensuring that health care practitioners and consumers have access to accurate information about the content of these products; • ensuring that substances with known, demonstrable inhalation risks are not used as ingredients in these products; and • minimising the risk of, and risks associated with, accidental exposure to or ingestion of these products, particularly by children, given the toxicity of nicotine. The Order achieves these objectives by specifying a range of labelling, packaging, ingredient, nicotine content (or concentration) and record-keeping requirements. Most notably, these include: • requiring disclosure of an ingredients list, the nicotine concentration and specific safety warnings on or attached to the container or primary package (including by way of over-stickering) or supplied with the product (including in an information sheet); • prohibiting the use of active ingredients other than nicotine and eight specific ingredients with known, demonstrable inhalation risks; • specifying that the nicotine concentration of these products must not exceed 100 mg/mL (base form concentration or equivalent base form concentration); • requiring nicotine concentration or content to be within +/- 10% of that stated on or attached to the product, or its container or primary package, or in information provided with the product; • requiring products to have child-resistant packaging; and • requiring those responsible for import, export or manufacture for the purpose of supply, of these products to maintain records demonstrating conformance with the Order. The Determination complements the Order by providing that those products covered by the Order need not also conform to the default standards that might otherwise apply to them. This is because the Order represents an acceptable standard for the safety and quality of unregistered nicotine vaping products in Australia. The default standards, however, will continue to apply to any nicotine vaping product that may be registered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.	Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee

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[1] Details of all instruments which the committee has resolved to draw to the attention of the Senate under standing order 23(4) are published on the committee's website: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Scrutiny_of_Delegated_Legislation/Matters_of_interest_to_the_Senate.