Queensland Numbered Acts Queensland Numbered ActsAfter section 454—
insert—
'The Office of Groundwater Impact Assessment is established.
'(1) The office's main functions are—
(a) to advise the chief executive on matters relating to impacts on underground water caused by the exercise of underground water rights by petroleum tenure holders; and
(b) to establish and maintain a database of information about underground water; and
(c) to prepare underground water impact reports for cumulative management areas.
'(2) The office's functions also include any other function given to the office under this Act or another Act.
'The office has the powers necessary or convenient to perform its functions or to help achieve the purposes of this chapter, including, for example, the power to enter into contracts or appoint agents.
'(1) The chief executive may give the office a written direction requiring the office to advise the chief executive on any matter relating to impacts on underground water caused by the exercise of underground water rights.
'(2) The office must comply with the direction.
'(3) In this section—
chief executive means the chief executive of the department in which chapter 3 is administered.
'(1) The office must keep and maintain a database of information relevant to monitoring underground water, including—
(a) information obtained by the office under chapter 3; and
(b) information given to the office for, in or under an underground water impact report.
'(2) The database may be kept in the way the manager considers appropriate, including, for example, in an electronic form.
'(1) The manager may give a petroleum tenure holder a notice requesting the following information about the exercise of underground water rights under the holder's petroleum tenure—
(a) information the manager requires for complying with its obligations as a responsible entity under chapter 3, part 2;
(b) other information the manager requires to analyse and monitor impacts on underground water generally.
'(2) The notice must state how, and a reasonable period of at least 20 business days by which, the information must be given.
'(3) The petroleum tenure holder must comply with the notice, unless the holder has a reasonable excuse.
Maximum penalty—1665 penalty units.
'(4) If the petroleum tenure holder is an individual, it is a reasonable excuse not to comply with the notice if complying with the notice might tend to incriminate the holder.
'The manager may establish advisory bodies it considers appropriate to give the office advice on the performance of its functions.
'The office consists of—
(a) the manager of the office; and
(b) the other staff of the office.
'The office must have a manager.
'(1) The manager is appointed on a full-time basis by the Governor in Council.
'(2) Subject to sections 469 and 472, the manager is employed under the Public Service Act 2008 as if the manager were a senior executive.
'(3) However, despite the Public Service Act 2008, the manager can be removed from office only by the Governor in Council.
'A person is eligible to be appointed as manager if the person has—
(a) appropriate qualifications relevant to underground water assessment and management or geology; and
Example of an appropriate qualification—
a degree relevant to groundwater management or geology
(b) experience relevant to the functions of the office.
'(1) Despite the Public Service Act 2008, the manager holds office for the term stated in the instrument of the manager's appointment.
'(2) The term stated in the instrument of appointment can not be longer than 5 years.
'(3) However, the manager is eligible for reappointment.
'(1) The manager's main functions are—
(a) to ensure the office performs its functions effectively and efficiently; and
(b) to make recommendations to the Minister about any matter that relates to the performance or exercise of the manager's or office's functions or powers.
'(2) The manager's functions also include any other function given to the manager under this Act or another Act.
'(3) Subsection (1) does not prevent the attachment of the office to the department to ensure the office is supplied with the administrative support services it requires to perform its functions effectively and efficiently.
'(1) The manager may exercise—
(a) the powers necessary or convenient for performing the manager's functions under this Act or another Act; and
(b) all other powers necessary or convenient for discharging the obligations imposed on the manager under this Act or another Act.
'(2) Also, the manager may exercise the powers of the office.
'The manager must, in performing the manager's functions, exercise an independent judgment and is not subject to direction from anyone else.
'The manager must not, without the approval of the Minister—
(a) hold any office of profit other than that of manager of the office; or
(b) engage in any paid employment outside the duties of that office; or
(c) actively take part in the activities of a business, or in the management of a corporation carrying on business.
'The office of the manager becomes vacant if the manager—
(a) completes a term of office; or
(b) resigns office by signed notice given to the Minister; or
(c) is removed from office by the Governor in Council under section 472; or
(d) is convicted of an indictable offence or an offence against this Act; or
(e) is a person who is an insolvent under administration under the Corporations Act, section 9.
'(1) The manager may be removed from office only under this section.
'(2) The Governor in Council may remove the manager from office on any of the following grounds—
(a) proved incapacity, incompetence or misconduct;
(b) misconduct of a type that could, other than for section 464(3), warrant dismissal from the public service;
(c) contravention of section 470.
'(1) The manager may delegate to an appropriately qualified person the manager's functions under this or another Act.
'(2) In this section—
appropriately qualified includes having the qualifications, experience or standing appropriate for the functions.
Examples of qualifications, experience or standing—
a degree relevant to groundwater management or geology
a person's classification level in the public service
function includes power.
'(1) This section applies if—
(a) a person is appointed as the manager; and
(b) the person resigns the person's role as a public service officer to accept the appointment.
'(2) The person retains and is entitled to all rights that have accrued to the person because of the person's employment as a public service officer, or that would accrue in the future to the person because of that employment, as if service as the manager were a continuation of service as a public service officer.
'(3) At the end of the person's term of office or on resignation—
(a) the person is entitled to be appointed to an office in the public service at a salary level not less than the current salary level of an office equivalent to the office the person held before being appointed as the manager; and
(b) the person's service as the manager is to be regarded as service of a similar kind in the public service for deciding the person's rights as a public service officer.
'If—
(a) a person who is a public service officer is appointed as the manager; and
(b) immediately before the appointment the person was a member of the State Public Sector Superannuation Scheme under the Superannuation (State Public Sector) Act 1990;
the person continues to be, and to be eligible to be, a member of the scheme.
'The other staff are employed under the Public Service Act 2008.
'(1) The manager may arrange with the chief executive of a department for the services of officers or employees of the department to be made available to the office.
'(2) An officer or employee whose services are made available under subsection (1)—
(a) continues to be an officer or employee of the department; and
(b) continues to be employed or otherwise engaged by the department on the same terms and conditions applying to the officer or employee before his or her services were made available; and
(c) is, for the period the services are made available and for performing the office's functions, taken to be a member of the staff of the office.
'The Groundwater Impact Assessment Fund is established.
'(1) The performance of the office's functions are to be funded by an annual levy payable by each petroleum tenure holder.
'(2) The levy must be worked out in the way prescribed under a regulation.
'(3) The way the levy is worked out must be transparent and likely to be readily understood by petroleum tenure holders.
'(4) The levy must be—
(a) based on the amount needed to recover the estimated costs to the office of performing its functions under chapter 3 in a financial year; and
(b) apportioned, where practicable, between petroleum tenure holders or classes of holders according to the cost to the office of performing functions specific to the holders or class of holders.
'(5) For subsection (4)(a), the office's estimated costs must be—
(a) prepared by the office; and
(b) approved by the Minister.
'(6) When preparing the office's estimated costs, the office may consult with a relevant advisory body.
'(7) The levy must be paid in the amount, at the time and in the way prescribed under a regulation.
'(8) If a petroleum tenure holder does not pay the levy as required under a regulation made under subsection (7), the State may recover from the holder the amount of the levy as a debt.
'The following amounts, on receipt by the department, must be paid into the Groundwater Impact Assessment Fund —
(a) levy amounts paid by petroleum tenure holders under section 479;
(b) all interest paid because of late payment of levy amounts payable by petroleum tenure holders.
'(1) The manager may make payments from the Groundwater Impact Assessment Fund under subsection (2).
'(2) A payment from the fund must be for 1 or more of the following—
(a) paying expenses incurred by the office in administering the office or performing the functions of the office;
(b) paying expenses incurred by the manager in performing the manager's functions;
(c) paying fees or expenses related to administering the fund;
(d) paying other amounts required or permitted under this Act or another Act to be paid out of the fund.
'(1) Accounts for the Groundwater Impact Assessment Fund must be kept as part of the departmental accounts of the department.
'(2) Amounts received for the fund must be deposited in a departmental financial institution account of the department.
'(3) Amounts received for the fund may be deposited in an account used for depositing other moneys of the department.
'(4) In this section—
departmental accounts, of a department, means the accounts of the department kept under the Financial Accountability Act 2009, section 69.
departmental financial institution account, of a department, means an account of the department kept under the Financial Accountability Act 2009, section 83.
other moneys, of the department, means all moneys of the department other than amounts received for the Groundwater Impact Assessment Fund.
'(1) The office may make information in the database available to the public.
'(2) However, the publicly available part of the database must not include—
(a) information obtained as a result of undertaking—
(i) a baseline assessment; or
(ii) a bore assessment; or
(b) any other information the office reasonably believes is commercially sensitive.
'(3) A person may—
(a) free of charge, inspect the details contained in the publicly available part of the database at the office's head office during normal business hours; and
(b) on payment of a fee decided by the chief executive, obtain a copy of the details from the office.
'(4) The fee decided by the chief executive must not be more than the reasonable cost of producing the copy.
'(1) The office must make any information in the database available to a petroleum tenure holder if the office is reasonably satisfied the information would assist the holder in complying with the holder's obligations under this chapter.
'(2) However, the office must not give information to a petroleum tenure holder under subsection (1) if the office reasonably believes the information is commercially sensitive.'.