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CLAUSE NOTES
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Tasmania) Bill 2009
Clause 1 Short Title
Clause 2 Commencement
This clause provides that commencement is to be staggered.
Some parts of the Bill (clauses 9 and 11) will commence
immediately, upon Royal Assent. Other clauses will commence
on a day or days to be proclaimed.
Clause 3 Interpretation
This clause provides a reference to the Health Practitioner
Regulation National Law (Tasmania) is a reference to the
provisions that are applied by clause 4. It also provides that
words used in the Bill have the same meaning as in the national
law that is being adopted.
Clause 4 Adoption of Health Practitioner Regulations National
Law
This is the clause that formally applies the national law, which
exists in a Schedule to the Queensland Act, as a law of
Tasmania.
Clause 5 Meaning of generic terms in Health Practitioner
Regulation National Law for the purposes of this
jurisdiction
There are some terms used in the national law that will have a
different meaning in each jurisdiction. These terms have been
set out in this clause with a meaning attributable to the term
specific to Tasmania.
Clause 6 Responsible Tribunal for Health Practitioner Regulation
National Law (Tasmania)
This clause provides that, in Tasmania, a reference in the
national law to the responsible tribunal is a reference to the
Magistrates Court (Civil Division).
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Clause 7 Exclusion of legislation of this jurisdiction
This clause excludes the operation of certain Tasmanian
legislation from the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
In particular, legislation dealing with the interpretation of
legislation, financial matters, privacy, freedom of information and
matters relating to the employment of public servants will not
apply to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
Instead, provisions have been included in the national law
covering these matters and ensuring consistency in each
Australian jurisdiction.
Clause 8 Regulations
This clause provides that, if necessary, Regulations can be made
of a savings and transitional nature to give effect to the
provisions of the Act.
Clause 9 Interpretation
This clause defines a number of expressions that are used in
Part 3 of the Bill.
Clause 10 Transfer of certain property exempt from duty
This clause provides that where property that is to be
transferred under the national law to the national agency would
ordinarily attract duty, that transfer is exempt.
Clause 11 Ministers directions
This clause provides that the Minister may issue a local
registration authority with written directions to do certain
things to assist in transition to the national scheme and that the
local registration authority must comply with those directions.
Clause 12 Police commissioner may give criminal history
information
This clause provides the Police Commissioner with the statutory
authority to provide criminal history information, specified in the
national law, to a National Board, to CrimTrac or to a police
service of another jurisdiction or the Commonwealth.
Clause 13 Interpretation
This clause defines a number of expressions that are used in
Part 4 of the Bill.
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Clause 14 Declarations of Areas of Need
This clause provides that where a declaration of an area of need
has been made under the existing Medical Practitioners Registration
Act 1996, it will continue to operate as if it had been made under
the national law once the national scheme commences.
Clause 15 Complaints being dealt with on participation day
This clause deals with complaints that have been made to a
Tasmanian registration authority before the national scheme
commences in Tasmania.
It provides that where a local registration authority had started
(but not finished) dealing with a complaint prior to the
participation date, then the complaint becomes a complaint
made to the national board.
It provides that the national board is to continue to deal with
the complaint under the Tasmanian legislation, as if that
legislation had not been repealed.
It provides that if a matter needs to be referred to a Tribunal
under the Pharmacists Registration Act 2001, the Dental
Practitioners Registration Act 2001, the Nursing Act 1995 or the
Medical Practitioners Registration Act 1996, then the responsible
tribunal defined in clause 6 of the Bill, is to deal with the
complaint and has all of the powers that a tribunal under a local
registration Act would have had.
If a complaint had already been referred to a Tribunal under the
Pharmacists Registration Act 2001, the Dental Practitioners
Registration Act 2001, the Nursing Act 1995 or the Medical
Practitioners Registration Act 1996 prior to the commencement of
the national scheme, then that Tribunal may continue to hear
the matter and may do so under the repealed law.
Note that the national law provides that if a complaint had been
lodged, but not started to be dealt with by a local registration
authority, then the complaint is taken to be made to the national
agency and will be dealt with under the national law.
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Clause 16 Annual reports
This clause provides that despite the repeal of the Acts
establishing Tasmania's local registration authorities (Boards),
each of those Boards will still be responsible for preparing an
annual report for the period of time from the last annual report
until the commencement of the national scheme.
This will mean that each Board will need to prepare an annual
report as if it and its functions were not being repealed by the
national law in Tasmania.
Clause 17 References in other Acts
This clause provides that references in Tasmanian legislation to a
person registered as a health practitioner under the national law
does not include a person who is registered as a student or who
has non-practising registration. Therefore, where in another
Act, a registered health practitioner has powers or duties to do
something; this will not extend to a student or non-practising
registrant.
This also extends to a person who holds provisional registration
under the national law if that person is registered in the
pharmacy profession.
Clause 18 Administration of Act
This clause provides that the Act is to be administered by the
Minister for Health and that the department responsible to the
Minister in relation to the administration of the Act is the
Department of Health and Human Services.
Clause 19 Legislation repealed
This clause provides that the legislation listed in Schedule 1 is to
be repealed.
Clause 20 Legislation rescinded
This clause provides that the legislation listed in Schedule 2 is to
be rescinded.
Clause 21 Legislation revoked
This clause provides that the legislation listed in Schedule 3 is to
be revoked.
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