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2004-2005
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ASBESTOS-RELATED CLAIMS (MANAGEMENT OF COMMONWEALTH
LIABILITIES) (CONSEQUENTIAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2005
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations,
the Honourable Kevin Andrews MP)
Outline
ASBESTOS-RELATED CLAIMS (MANAGEMENT OF COMMONWEALTH
LIABILITIES) (CONSEQUENTIAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS) BILL 2005
OUTLINE
This Bill deals with certain consequential and transitional matters arising from the enactment of
the Asbestos-related Claims (Management of Commonwealth Liabilities) Act 2005
(ARC (MCL) Act). The ARC (MCL) Act would centralise all common law Asbestos-related
condition (ARC) claims against Australian Government agencies by allowing for Comcare to take
responsibility for claims and records management. This involves a transfer of legal liability for
claims from the Commonwealth and relevant Commonwealth authorities to Comcare. This Bill
would also transfer any remaining liabilities of the Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee
(SIFC) to the Commonwealth.
The Bill contains two schedules:
Schedule 1 - Amendment of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
(SRC Act);
Schedule 2 - Repeal of certain stevedoring legislation.
Schedule 1
Schedule 1 contains consequential amendments to the SRC Act necessary to accommodate
Comcare's new function of managing all ARC common law claims made against the Australian
Government.
Schedule 2
Schedule 2 repeals certain stevedoring legislation that is already or will become redundant as a
result of the transfer of SIFC asbestos liabilities for current claims to Comcare and its remaining
liabilities being transferred to the Commonwealth under this Bill.
The SIFC is established under the Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee Act 1977 (`the
Committee Act') as the successor to the Australian Stevedoring Industry Authority. The SIFC's
only substantial function is to deal with ARC claims arising from the stevedoring industry. With
the passing of the obligations and liabilities for ARC claims from SIFC to Comcare effected by the
ARC (MCL) Act and the transferring of any remaining liabilities of SIFC to the Commonwealth
under this Bill the Committee Act is now redundant.
The Stevedoring Industry Act 1977 (Levy Act) and Stevedoring Industry Levy Collection Act
1977 (Levy Collection Act) need to be read together. They establish and provide for the
collection of a special levy. The special levy is now redundant. Its former use was to repay loan
obligations entered into to meet redundancy payments under the Waterfront Industry Reform
Authority In-Principle Agreement in 1989.
The Committee Act, Levy Act and Levy Collection Act all have sunset provisions which can be
activated when the obligations and liabilities of the SIFC have been discharged. Rather than rely
on these provisions it is more efficient to repeal these Acts as part of this legislative exercise.
House of Representatives page 2 Asbestos-related Claims (Manag
of Commonwealth Liabilities)
(Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2005
Outline
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
As a consequence of repealing the Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee Act 1977, the
Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee will no longer expend funds or receive revenue. The
cash reserves held by that body will be returned to consolidated revenue and amount to
approximately $27 million.
House of Representatives page 3 Asbestos-related Claims (Manag
of Commonwealth Liabilities)
(Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2005
Notes on clauses
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short title
This is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Act.
Clause 2 - Commencement
Subclause (2) sets out a table which specifies when the various provisions of the Bill are to
commence.
Clauses 1-3 and 5 will come into effect on the day this Act receives the Royal Assent.
Schedule 1 which contains amendments to the SRC Act will commence when Part 2 of the
ARC (MCL) Act commences.
Clause 4 will commence immediately after Part 2 of the ARC (MCL) Act commences. Part 2 of
the ARC (MCL) Act needs to commence first to transfer SIFC's liabilities for current claims to
Comcare. After those liabilities are transferred clause 4 will then commence to transfer SIFC's
remaining liabilities to the Commonwealth. After clause 4 has commenced Schedule 2 will
commence immediately after.
Clause 3 - Schedule(s)
Clause 3 provides that each Act specified in a Schedule to this Bill is amended or repealed as set
out in the relevant items in that Schedule, and that any other item in a Schedule operates
according to its terms.
Clause 4 - Transfer of liabilities from Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee to
Commonwealth
Clause 4 would transfer any liability of the SIFC to the Commonwealth. Once these liabilities are
vested with the Commonwealth subsection 5(2) of the ARC (MCL) Act could - if an asbestos-
related claim is made after commencement - transfer the liability for that claim from the
Commonwealth to Comcare.
Clause 5 - Compensation for acquisition of property
Clause 5 is a safety net provision to ensure that if this Bill had an unintended consequence of
denying a right to a person arising from the repeal of the Committee Act, Levy Act or Levy
Collection Act then that person could be compensated for the extinguishment of that right. If that
situation did occur the Bill would provide for the Consolidated Revenue Fund to be appropriated
to the extent necessary to compensate that person.
Clause 6 - Regulations
This Clause provides regulation making powers for the purposes of the Act.
House of Representatives page 4 Asbestos-related Claims (Manag
of Commonwealth Liabilities)
(Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2005
Notes on clauses
The Governor-General would have the power to make regulations for matters required or
permitted under the Bill to be prescribed or that are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for
carrying out or giving effect to this Bill. In addition to this standard power contained in many
Acts this item would allow the Governor-General to make regulations in relation to matters of a
transitional, application or saving nature relating to amendments made to the SRC Act by this Bill,
the repeal of the stevedoring legislation by this Bill and/or the enactment of the
ARC (MCL) Act. In the short timeframe in which the legislation has been developed, it has not
been possible to determine all of the potential transitional matters that might arise. The inclusion
of the regulation-making power will provide a means of addressing transitional matters as they
arise, without the need to amend the ARC (MCL) Act or this Bill.
House of Representatives page 5 Asbestos-related Claims (Manag
of Commonwealth Liabilities)
(Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2005
Schedule 1 - Amendment of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
SCHEDULE 1 - AMENDMENT OF THE SAFETY, REHABILITATION AND
COMPENSATION ACT 1988
Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988
Item 1 - At the end of section 69
1.1 This item would insert a note at the end of section 69 of the SRC Act which would alert
readers to Comcare's function under the ARC (MCL) Act to assume and manage Commonwealth
ARC liabilities.
Item 2 - Subsection 73A(1)
1.2This item would provide that the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission
(SRCC) could not issue general policy guidelines to Comcare in relation to the operation of the
ARC (MCL) Act. It was not considered appropriate for the SRCC to have a role in relation to
this class of claims as they predominately relate to people who are not Commonwealth employees.
Item 3 - At the end of section 73B
1.3This item would insert a note at the end of section 73B of the SRC Act which would alert
readers to the requirement for Comcare to gain Ministerial consent in relation to an external
delegation of its claims management function under the ARC (MCL) Act.
Item 4 - Subsection 91(1)
Item 5 - Paragraph 91(3)(a)
1.4 These items would prevent the money paid to Comcare under section 91 of the SRC Act
being used for the performance of its function and exercise of its power under the
ARC (MCL) Act.
House of Representatives page 6 Asbestos-related Claims (Manag
of Commonwealth Liabilities)
(Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2005
Schedule 2 - Repeal of certain stevedoring legislation
SCHEDULE 2 - REPEAL OF CERTAIN STEVEDORING LEGISLATION
Item 1 - Repeal of Acts
2.1This item repeals the Committee Act, the Levy Act and the Levy Collection Act.
2.2The Levy Act and Levy Collection Act no longer have any application and are therefore to be
repealed.
2.3 The ARC (MCL) Act 2005 will transfer liabilities in respect of which an asbestos-related
claim has been made before commencement to Comcare. Following this, this Bill will transfer any
remaining liabilities of the Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee (SIFC) to the
Commonwealth. Asbestos-related liabilities are then capable of being automatically transferred to
Comcare under the transfer provisions of the ARC (MCL) Act when claims are made in respect of
them. Once SIFC's liabilities have been transferred to Comcare or the Commonwealth (as the
case may be) the Committee Act will become redundant.
House of Representatives page 7 Asbestos-related Claims (Manag
of Commonwealth Liabilities)
(Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2005