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COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009


                                  2008-2009





               THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA





                                   SENATE











        COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009





                       REVISED EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM















                     (Circulated by the authority of the
 Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs,
                          the Hon Jenny Macklin MP)
        COORDINATOR- GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009



OUTLINE


This bill  establishes  a  statutory  position  of  Coordinator-General  for
Remote Indigenous Services (Coordinator-General).

The bill specifies the functions and powers of the  Coordinator-General  and
provides for appointment by the Governor-General.  The  bill  also  provides
for the terms and conditions under which the Coordinator-General  will  hold
office, the way in which the Coordinator-General may obtain  the  assistance
of staff and reporting procedures for the Coordinator-General.

In November 2008, the Council of  Australian  Governments  (COAG)  signed  a
National Partnership Agreement on Remote  Service  Delivery.   Through  this
agreement, the Commonwealth, the States and the Northern  Territory  made  a
commitment  to  work  together  with  Indigenous  communities   to   improve
Indigenous Australians'  access  to  government  services,  including  early
childhood, health, housing and welfare services through a single  government
interface.

The role of Coordinator-General is to provide strategic  central  leadership
and  coordination  of  the  overall  Remote  Service  Delivery  Strategy  in
Indigenous communities specified by the Minister.   The  Coordinator-General
will cut through  administrative  barriers  and  ensure  that  services  are
delivered effectively.


Financial impact statement

|Financial impact    |                    |Total resourcing |
|2009-10             |                    |$2.2 m           |
|2010-11             |                    |$2.2 m           |
|2011-12             |                    |$2.3 m           |
|2012-13             |                    |$2.3 m           |


        COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009



NOTES ON CLAUSES


                            PART 1 - PRELIMINARY

Clause 1 - Short title

This clause provides for the Act to be cited as the Coordinator-General  for
Remote Indigenous Services Act 2009.

Clause 2 - Commencement

This clause provides that the bill will commence on  the  day  on  which  it
receives the Royal Assent.

Clause 3 - Object of Act

This clause specifies that the object  of  the  Act  is  to  provide  for  a
Coordinator-General  for  Remote  Indigenous  Services,  who  will  monitor,
assess, advise in relation to, and drive the  development  and  delivery  of
services and facilities by governments, in each  remote  location  specified
by the Minister, to  a  standard  comparable  with  that  in  non-Indigenous
communities of a similar size, location and needs elsewhere in Australia.

Clause 4 - Definitions

This clause provides for the definition of some terms used in the  Act.   In
particular:

Agency Head means the same as the use of that term  in  the  Public  Service
Act 1999;

Closing the Gap targets means the six targets  in  the  National  Indigenous
Reform Agreement as described in the definition;

Coordinator-General means  the  office  of  Coordinator-General  for  Remote
Indigenous Services created under clause 7;

government service (in a  community)  refers  to  any  service  or  facility
provided by any level of government in the community  to  either  Indigenous
persons or the whole population of the community;

head (of a service agency) means the Agency Head, or the person  holding  or
performing the duties of the principal office, or an  individual,  or  chief
executive officer (however described);

Indigenous means  a  member  of  the  Aboriginal  race  of  Australia  or  a
descendant of the Indigenous inhabitants of the Torres Strait Islands;


Indigenous Affairs Minister, of a State or Territory, means the Minister of
the State or Territory who is responsible for the administration of matters
relating to Indigenous affairs.

Local  Implementation  Plans  has  the  meaning  given   by   the   National
Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery;

member of the Coordinator-General's staff means APS  employees  provided  by
arrangement with the Secretary of the Department;

National  Partnership  Agreement  on  Remote  Service  Delivery  means   the
National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery that  took  effect
on 27 January 2009;

non-Indigenous  community  means  a  community  of  which   no   significant
proportion is Indigenous;

remote location means a  Remote  Indigenous  Location  (within  the  meaning
given by the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery);

service agency means a department, agency or authority of the  Commonwealth,
State or Territory;

specified remote community means a community in a remote location  specified
under clause 5.

State or Territory Coordinator-General has the meaning given by subclause
9A(3).

Clause 5 - Specified remote community

This clause enables  the  Minister  to  specify  a  community  in  a  remote
location in  relation  to  which  the  Coordinator-General's  functions  and
powers operate.

Under subclause (2), the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette,  specify  a
remote location if that location is categorised as  Remote  or  Very  Remote
Australia (which is based on the definition of  Remote  Indigenous  Location
in the National Partnership Agreement on  Remote  Service  Delivery)  and  a
significant proportion of the population is Indigenous.

Subclause (2A) provides for consultation with a State or Territory
government before the Minister specifies a remote location in the
particular State or Territory for the purposes of bringing that community
within the purview of the Coordinator-General.

Subclause (3) has been added to assist readers as such instruments  are  not
legislative instruments  as  described  in  section  5  of  the  Legislative
Instruments Act 2003.

Clause 6 - Act binds Crown

This clause provides that the Act binds the Crown, but  does  not  make  the
Crown liable to prosecution for an offence.

   PART 2 - ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE
                             INDIGENOUS SERVICES

Division 1 - Establishment  of  Coordinator-General  for  Remote  Indigenous
Services

Clause 7 - Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services

This clause provides for the statutory position of  Coordinator-General  for
Remote Indigenous Services.

Division 2 - Functions and general powers of Coordinator-General

Clause 8 - Functions of Coordinator-General

This clause specifies the functions of the Coordinator-General.

The clause provides  that  the  Coordinator-General  will  monitor,  assess,
advise in relation to, and drive:

   a) the development and  delivery  of  government  services  in  specified
      remote communities to a standard broadly comparable with that in  non-
      Indigenous communities of similar size, location and need elsewhere in
      Australia; and


   b) progress  towards  achieving  the  Closing  the  Gap  targets  in  the
      specified remote communities.

Clause 9 - Powers of Coordinator-General

This  clause  provides  the  Coordinator-General  with  the  power   to   do
everything necessary or convenient in order to perform the functions of  the
office.

Without limitation, this includes the power to:

    . request the production of information and documents (clause 10);


    . request the attendance of persons at meetings;

    . request assistance from service agencies; and

    . report failures to comply with requests,  including  to  the  Minister
      (clause 16).

Clause 9A - Requests to be made through State  and  Territory  Coordinators-
General

Subclause 9A(1) provides that the Coordinator-General, when making  requests
to staff of a service  agency,  may  do  so  only  by  requesting  that  the
relevant State or Territory Coordinator-General give  the  original  request
to those staff, and then the State or Territory  Coordinator-General  giving
the request to those staff.

Subclause 9A(2) provides that the Coordinator-General may request  that  the
head of a service agency give the original  request  to  the  staff  of  the
service agency, where the Coordinator-General  is  not  satisfied  that  the
State or Territory Coordinator-General has complied with the  request  under
paragraph 9A(1)(a).  The head of the service  agency  would  then  give  the
request to the staff of the service agency.

Subclause 9A(3) provides that the State or Territory Coordinator-General  is
the person (if any) nominated by the Minister  of  the  State  or  Territory
responsible for Indigenous affairs.

Division 3 - Monitoring

Clause 10 - Coordinator-General may request persons to provide information
and documents etc.

This clause gives the Coordinator-General the power to request a  person  to
give specified information, produce specified  documents  or  attend  before
the Coordinator-General to answer questions at a specified  place  or  time.
The request must be  complied  with  within  the  period  specified  by  the
Coordinator-General.

Subclause (2) provides limited protection to persons  providing  information
to the Coordinator-General.  Paragraph (2)(a)  protects  a  person  who,  in
good faith, complies with a request, from proceedings for  contravening  any
other  law  so  that,  for  example,  documents  which  might  otherwise  be
prevented from being disclosed by another law will be made available to  the
Coordinator-General.

Paragraph (2)(b) provides that civil proceedings cannot be  brought  against
a person who, in good faith, complied with a request  under  subclause  (1),
which may have caused another person loss, damage or injury.

Clause 11 - No loss of legal professional privilege

This clause provides  that  legal  professional  privilege  in  a  piece  of
information or a document is not  waived  or  lost  simply  by  the  act  of
disclosure in response to a request made under clause 10 by the Coordinator-
General.  The disclosure could be by a  document  or  by  a  response  to  a
question from the Coordinator-General.

Clause 12 - Coordinator-General may make and keep copies of documents

The Coordinator-General may make and keep copies of  documents  produced  in
response to requests under clause 10.

Clause 13 - Limitation of powers under this Division

This clause recognises the constitutional limitations  of  the  Coordinator-
General's functions and powers, particularly  in  relation  to  the  States.
The Coordinator-General must not perform functions or exercise powers  in  a
manner  that  would  impair  the  capacity  of  a  State  to  exercise   its
constitutional powers.

Division 4 - Local Implementation Plans

Clause 14 - Local Implementation Plans

Local Implementation Plans are defined in clause 4 to assist readers.

Subclause (1) provides that the Coordinator-General  may  comment  on  draft
Local Implementation  Plans  as  they  are  developed  in  relation  to  the
specified remote communities.

Subclause  (2)  provides  that  the  Coordinator-General  must  monitor  the
implementation of each Local Implementation  Plan.   This  will  enable  the
Coordinator-General to ascertain if  services  are  being  delivered  in  an
effective and timely manner.

Division 5 - Reporting

Clause 15 - Regular reports on government services in specified remote
localities

Clause 15 provides that the Coordinator-General must provide reports to  the
Minister twice each year (or as otherwise required by the Minister).

Each report must contain information on the  progress  of  the  delivery  of
government services in each of the specified remote  communities,  including
comment on the improvements to  the  coordination  of  the  development  and
delivery of services, and reforms to the development and  delivery  of  such
services.

Progress that has been made towards achieving the Closing  the  Gap  targets
in the specified remote localities must also be reported on.

Clause 16 - Reports on failures to comply with requests

Subclause 16(1) provides  that  this  clause  applies  if  the  Coordinator-
General makes a request for  attendance  at  a  meeting;  the  provision  of
information  and  documents;  the  assistance  of  a  service  agency;   the
assistance of a State or Territory Coordinator-General;  the  assistance  of
the head of a State or Territory service agency; or the  cooperation  of  an
Agency Head or APS employee and there is  a  failure  to  comply  with  that
request.

Subclause 16(2) provides that the Coordinator-General  may  discuss  such  a
failure  to  comply   with   persons   the   Coordinator-General   considers
appropriate.

Subclause  16(3)  provides   that   the   Coordinator-General   may   report
discussions to the head of the  relevant  service  agency  if  there  is  no
satisfactory result to discussions under subclause 16(2).

Subclause  16(4)  provides   that   the   Coordinator-General   may   report
unsatisfactory  responses  from  the  heads  of  service  agencies  to   the
Minister. If the Coordinator-General considers it necessary, he or  she  may
report unsatisfactory responses from the heads of service  agencies  to  the
Prime Minister.

Clause 17 - Other reports

Clause 17 provides that the Coordinator-General may make  other  reports  to
the Minister as required.

Clause 18 - Criticism of service agencies

Clause 18 provides that, if  the  Coordinator-General  proposes  to  include
material in a report under this division  that  is  critical  of  a  service
agency, or part of that agency, then the  Coordinator-General  must  consult
with the head of that service agency.

It is intended that the head of a service agency will have  the  opportunity
to respond to material  in  a  report  that  is  critical  of  that  agency.
Nevertheless, consistent with the purposes for the creation of the  position
of Coordinator-General, the processes have not been specified in  detail  so
that maximum flexibility is available to the Coordinator-General to  achieve
results.

        PART 3 - ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS ABOUT COORDINATOR-GENERAL

Clause 19 - Appointment

This clause provides for the appointment of  the  Coordinator-General  as  a
full-time statutory office-holder by the Governor-General for a  fixed  term
specified in the instrument of appointment and not exceeding five years.

Subclause (4) allows the Governor-General to determine terms and  conditions
(if any) on which the Coordinator-General will  hold  office,  but  only  in
relation to matters not covered by this  Bill.   This  subclause  should  be
read in conjunction with clause 22, which allows the Minister  to  determine
some terms and conditions.

Clause 20 - Acting appointments

This clause deals  with  arrangements  for  acting  appointments,  including
allowing the Minister to appoint a person to act as the  Coordinator-General
when the office is vacant.  This provision is  to  be  read  in  conjunction
with subclause 19(2), which requires that, whenever a vacancy occurs in  the
office of Coordinator-General, a permanent appointment must be made as  soon
as practicable.

Clause 21 - Remuneration

The remuneration for the Coordinator-General is  to  be  determined  by  the
Remuneration Tribunal, with provision for remuneration to be  prescribed  by
the regulations in the absence of such determination.  Allowances  may  also
be prescribed by the regulations.

Clause 22 - Leave of absence

The  Coordinator-General's  recreation  leave   entitlements   are   to   be
determined by  the  Remuneration  Tribunal.   The  Minister  may  grant  the
Coordinator-General other leave on terms and conditions  determined  by  the
Minister.

Clause 23 - Engaging in other paid work

The Coordinator-General cannot engage in other paid employment  without  the
Minister's approval.

Clause 24 - Disclosure of interests to the Minister

The  Coordinator-General  must  notify  the  Minister  in  writing  of   any
potential conflicts of interest.   Failure  to  provide  such  notification,
without reasonable excuse, is a ground for  dismissal  of  the  Coordinator-
General by the Governor-General pursuant to clause 26.

Clause 25 - Resignation

The Coordinator-General may resign by giving written notice to the Governor-
General.  The resignation takes effect on the day it is received by the
Governor-General, or if a later day is specified in the resignation, on
that later day.

Clause 26 - Termination of appointment

Clause 26 provides that the Governor-General must terminate the  appointment
of the Coordinator-General on the grounds specified.   The  Governor-General
has the discretion to dismiss the Coordinator-General  for  misbehaviour  or
physical or mental incapacity or if  the  performance  of  the  Coordinator-
General has been unsatisfactory.   The  Governor-General  must  dismiss  the
Coordinator-General in situations such as bankruptcy,  unauthorised  absence
from office, engaging in unauthorised paid employment outside the office  of
Coordinator-General (in breach of clause  23)  and/or  failing  to  disclose
conflicts of interest (in breach of clause 24).

Subclauses (3) and (4) clarify the effect of the  Coordinator-General  being
dismissed from office on the grounds of physical or  mental  incapacity  for
the  operation  of  Commonwealth  superannuation  schemes   of   which   the
Coordinator-General may be a member without a  certificate  being  given  by
the relevant Board.  These are the usual  provisions  applied  to  statutory
office holders.

Clause 27 - Coordinator-General's staff

Clause 27  provides  that  the  Coordinator-General  may  arrange  with  the
Secretary of the Department for APS employees in the Department to  be  made
available to the Coordinator-General.

                           PART 4 - OTHER MATTERS

Clause 28 - Annual reports

Clause 28 provides for the Coordinator-General to prepare an  annual  report
on the operations of the office of  the  Coordinator-General,  and  requires
the Minister to table the report in  each  House  of  Parliament  within  15
sitting days of receiving the report.

Clause 29 - Delegation of certain powers by Coordinator-General

Clause 29 provides that the Coordinator-General may delegate powers  granted
under this Act to a staff member with the exception of  the  power  to  make
arrangements with the Secretary to make staff available.

Clause 30 - Regulations

Clause 30 provides for the Governor-General  to  make  regulations  covering
matters required or permitted to be prescribed in the Act, or  matters  that
would be necessary or convenient to prescribe for the purposes of the Act.

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