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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
STATUS OF CHILDREN
AMENDMENT BILL 2001
Queensland
STATUS OF CHILDREN AMENDMENT
BILL 2001
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
PART 1--PRELIMINARY
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Commencement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
PART 2--AMENDMENT OF STATUS OF CHILDREN ACT 1978
3 Act amended in pt 2 and schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Amendment of title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 Replacement of s 1 (Short title, commencement and application) . . . . . . . . 4
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1A Application of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1B Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6 Replacement of s 2 (Interpretation). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2A Meaning of "parentage testing procedure" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7 Amendment of s 3 (All children to be of equal status) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8 Amendment and relocation of s 4 (Instruments executed and intestacies
that take place before the commencement of this Act) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
9 Omission of s 5 (Presumption as to parenthood) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
10 Amendment of s 7 (Recognition of paternity). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
11 Omission of s 8 (Evidence and proof of paternity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
12 Amendment of s 10 (Declaration of paternity) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
13 Replacement of s 11 (Order requiring evidence concerning paternity
to be given) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
11 Order requiring evidence to be given about paternity or
parentage testing procedure to be carried out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
11A Parentage testing procedure reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
14 Insertion of new division headings in pt 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
15 Amendment of s 13 (Interpretation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
16 Amendment of s 14 (Application). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
17 Insertion of new pt 3, divs 3 and 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Division 3--Other parentage presumptions
18A Parentage presumptions arising from marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
18B Parentage presumption arising from birth registration . . . . . . . . . . . 12
18C Parentage presumption arising from court finding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
18D Paternity presumption arising from acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . 13
18E Paternity presumption arising from cohabitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Division 4--Other provisions about presumptions
18F Rebuttal of presumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
18G Resolution of conflicting presumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
18 Replacement of s 19 (Regulations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
19 Approval of forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
20 Regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
21 Numbering and renumbering of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PART 5--TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
Division 1--Transitional provisions for Status of Children Act 1978'.
19 Insertion of new pt 5 div 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Division 2--Transitional provision for Status of Children Amendment Act
2001
24 Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
PART 3--AMENDMENT OF MAINTENANCE ACT 1965
20 Act amended in pt 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
21 Omission of pt 2, div 3, sdiv 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
SCHEDULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
MINOR AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
2001
A BILL
FOR
An Act to amend the Status of Children Act 1978, and for another
purpose
s1 4 s5
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
PART 1--PRELIMINARY 2
1 Short title
Clause 3
This Act may be cited as the Status of Children Amendment Act 2001. 4
2 Commencement
Clause 5
This Act commences on a day to be fixed by proclamation. 6
PART 2--AMENDMENT OF STATUS OF CHILDREN 7
ACT 1978 8
3 Act amended in pt 2 and schedule
Clause 9
This part and the schedule amend the Status of Children Act 1978. 10
4 Amendment of title
Clause 11
Title, `artificially conceived'-- 12
omit. 13
5 Replacement of s 1 (Short title, commencement and application)
Clause 14
Section 1-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`1 Short title 17
`This Act may be cited as the Status of Children Act 1978. 18
s6 5 s6
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
`1A Application of Act 1
`This Act applies to a person, whether or not-- 2
(a) the person-- 3
(i) was born in the State; or 4
(ii) was born before or after the commencement of this section; 5
or 6
(iii) is a child; or 7
(b) the person's father or mother has ever been domiciled in the 8
State. 9
`1B Act binds all persons 10
`This Act binds all persons, including the State, and, so far as the 11
legislative power of the Parliament permits, the Commonwealth and the 12
other States.'. 13
6 Replacement of s 2 (Interpretation)
Clause 14
Section 2-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
`2 Definitions 17
`In this Act-- 18
"marriage" includes a void marriage and a voidable marriage that has 19
been annulled by a court. 20
"parentage testing order" see section 11(2)(b). 21
"parentage testing procedure" see section 2A. 22
"parentage testing procedure report" see section 11A(1). 23
"prescribed court" see section 18C(1)(a). 24
"prescribed overseas jurisdiction" has the meaning given by the Family 25
Law Act 1975 (Cwlth).1 26
1 See the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth), section 4 (Interpretation) and the Family Law
Regulations 1984 (Cwlth), section 39B(2) (Extension of provisions of Act).
s7 6 s8
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
`2A Meaning of "parentage testing procedure" 1
`(1) A "parentage testing procedure" is a physical or other test carried 2
out on a person involving the application of medical science for the 3
purpose of obtaining evidence about paternity. 4
`(2) A parentage testing procedure includes the taking of tissue, fluid or 5
other bodily sample from a person and the scientific examination of the 6
samples. 7
`(3) The following medical procedures are also parentage testing 8
procedures-- 9
(a) red cell antigen blood grouping; 10
(b) red cell enzyme blood grouping; 11
(c) human leucocyte antigen tissue typing; 12
(d) testing for serum markers; 13
(e) DNA typing.'. 14
7 Amendment of s 3 (All children to be of equal status)
Clause 15
Section 3(4)-- 16
omit. 17
8 Amendment and relocation of s 4 (Instruments executed and
Clause 18
intestacies that take place before the commencement of this Act) 19
(1) Section 4, heading-- 20
omit, insert-- 21
`4 Documents executed before commencement of Act'. 22
(2) Section 4(1), `instruments'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`documents'. 25
(3) Section 4(2), `an instrument'-- 26
omit, insert-- 27
`a document'. 28
s9 7 s 12
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
(4) Before section 4(3), as heading-- 1
insert-- 2
`4A Intestacies taking place before commencement of Act'. 3
(5) Section 4(3)-- 4
renumber as section 4A. 5
(6) Sections 4 and 4A-- 6
relocate and renumber, in part 5, division 1 (as inserted by this Act), as 7
sections 22 and 23. 8
9 Omission of s 5 (Presumption as to parenthood)
Clause 9
Section 5-- 10
omit. 11
10 Amendment of s 7 (Recognition of paternity)
Clause 12
Section 7(1)(b), from `(whether' to `otherwise)'-- 13
omit. 14
11 Omission of s 8 (Evidence and proof of paternity)
Clause 15
Section 8-- 16
omit. 17
12 Amendment of s 10 (Declaration of paternity)
Clause 18
Section 10-- 19
insert-- 20
`(5) For a criminal proceeding, a declaration having effect under this 21
section is conclusive evidence of the matters contained in it, unless the 22
contrary is established.'. 23
s 13 8 s 13
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
13 Replacement of s 11 (Order requiring evidence concerning
Clause 1
paternity to be given) 2
Section 11-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`11 Order requiring evidence to be given about paternity or 5
parentage testing procedure to be carried out 6
`(1) This section applies to a proceeding in relation to an application 7
under section 10. 8
`(2) The court may make the following orders-- 9
(a) an order requiring a named person to give evidence material to 10
any question in issue in the proceeding; 11
(b) an order directing a named person to submit himself or herself or 12
a child or adult mentioned in subsection (4)(b) or (c), within the 13
time stated in the order, to the carrying out of a parentage testing 14
procedure on himself or herself or the child or adult (a 15
"parentage testing order"). 16
`(3) The order may be subject to conditions. 17
`(4) A parentage testing procedure must not be carried out on a person 18
under a parentage testing order unless-- 19
(a) if the person does not have impaired capacity and is an adult or is 20
a child who is 16 or 17 years--the person consents to the 21
carrying out of the procedure; or 22
(b) if the person is a child who is under 16 years or is a child who is 23
16 or 17 years with impaired capacity--the child's parent or 24
guardian or a person exercising parental responsibility in relation 25
to the child consents to the carrying out of the procedure; or 26
(c) if the person is an adult with impaired capacity--a person who 27
may exercise powers in relation to personal matters for the adult 28
under a power of attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act 1998, 29
or a guardian for the adult under the Guardianship and 30
Administration Act 2000, consents to the carrying out of the 31
procedure. 32
`(5) If a person fails to take any step required of the person for giving 33
effect to a parentage testing order, the court may draw whatever inferences 34
from that fact the court considers appropriate in the circumstances. 35
s 13 9 s 13
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
`(6) For subsection (5), a person is taken to have failed to take a step 1
required of the person for giving effect to a parentage testing order if the 2
person-- 3
(a) is named in the order; and 4
(b) fails to consent to a parentage testing procedure being carried out 5
on-- 6
(i) himself or herself; or 7
(ii) a child or adult mentioned in subsection (4)(b) or (c) named 8
in the order. 9
`(7) However, the person is not liable to any penalty in relation to the 10
contravention. 11
`(8) In this section-- 12
"impaired capacity" means capacity that is impaired capacity under the 13
Guardianship and Administration Act 2000. 14
"personal matter" means a matter that is a personal matter under the 15
Powers of Attorney Act 1998. 16
`11A Parentage testing procedure reports 17
`(1) A person who carries out, or helps in the carrying out of, a parentage 18
testing procedure under a parentage testing order must prepare and give to 19
the court a report in the approved form in relation to information obtained 20
as a result of the carrying out of the procedure (a "parentage testing 21
procedure report"). 22
`(2) The report must be prepared in accordance with the requirements 23
prescribed under a regulation. 24
`(3) The report may be received in evidence in a proceeding under this 25
Act. 26
`(4) A party to the proceeding-- 27
(a) with leave of the court, may; or 28
(b) if the court directs, must; 29
ask the person who prepared the report to give a written statement 30
explaining or expanding on any statement made in the report. 31
`(5) The person who prepared the report must comply with the request. 32
s 14 10 s 15
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
`(6) The statement given in compliance with the request is taken to form 1
part of the report. 2
`(7) If a report is received in evidence, the court may make an order 3
requiring the person who made the report, or any person whose evidence 4
may be relevant in relation to the report, to appear before the court and give 5
evidence in relation to the report. 6
`(8) The court may make an order under subsection (6)-- 7
(a) on its own initiative; or 8
(b) on the request of a party to the proceeding.'. 9
14 Insertion of new division headings in pt 3
Clause 10
(1) Part 3, before section 13-- 11
insert-- 12
`Division 1--Application'. 13
(2) Before section 15-- 14
insert-- 15
`Division 2--Parentage presumptions of children conceived by 16
fertilisation procedures'. 17
15 Amendment of s 13 (Interpretation)
Clause 18
(1) Section 13, heading-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`13 Interpretation for div 2'. 21
(2) Section 13, `Part'-- 22
omit, insert-- 23
`division'. 24
(3) Section 13-- 25
relocate and renumber, in division 2, as section 14A. 26
s 16 11 s 17
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
16 Amendment of s 14 (Application)
Clause 1
(1) Section 14, `this Part'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`division 2'. 4
(2) Section 14-- 5
insert-- 6
`(3) Divisions 3 and 4 apply to happenings before or after the 7
commencement of the divisions. 8
9
Example of a `happening'--
10
The registration of the birth of a child.'.
17 Insertion of new pt 3, divs 3 and 4
Clause 11
Part 3, after section 18-- 12
insert-- 13
`Division 3--Other parentage presumptions 14
`18A Parentage presumptions arising from marriage 15
`(1) A child born to a woman while she is married is presumed to be the 16
child of the woman and her husband. 17
`(2) If a child is born to a woman within 44 weeks after her husband 18
dies, the child is presumed to be the child of the woman and her deceased 19
husband. 20
`(3) If a child is born to a woman within 44 weeks after her purported 21
marriage is annulled, the child is presumed to be the child of the woman 22
and her purported husband. 23
`(4) A child is presumed to be the child of a woman and her former 24
husband if-- 25
(a) when they are married, they separate, resume cohabitation on a 26
single occasion and, within 3 months after resuming 27
cohabitation, separate again and live separately and apart; and 28
s 17 12 s 17
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
(b) after the dissolution of the marriage, but within 44 weeks after 1
the cohabitation ends, the child is born to the woman. 2
`(5) A presumption under this section is rebuttable. 3
`18B Parentage presumption arising from birth registration 4
`(1) If, under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a prescribed 5
overseas jurisdiction, a person is named as a child's parent in a register of 6
births or parentage information, the person is presumed to be the child's 7
parent. 8
`(2) The presumption in subsection (1) is rebuttable. 9
`18C Parentage presumption arising from court finding 10
`(1) A person is presumed to be a child's parent if, while the person is 11
alive-- 12
(a) a court of the Commonwealth, a State or a prescribed overseas 13
jurisdiction (a "prescribed court") expressly finds that the 14
person is the child's parent; and 15
(b) the finding is not altered, set aside or reversed. 16
`(2) The presumption in subsection (1) is irrebuttable. 17
`(3) A person is presumed to have been a child's parent if, after the 18
person dies-- 19
(a) a prescribed court expressly finds that the person was the child's 20
parent; and 21
(b) the finding is not altered, set aside or reversed. 22
`(4) The presumption in subsection (3) is rebuttable. 23
`(5) In this section, a reference to a court finding includes the 24
following-- 25
(a) a declaration under section 10 of this Act; 26
(b) an order under the Maintenance Act 1965, section 14 or 16;1 27
1 Maintenance Act 1965, section 14 (Court may order unmarried father to maintain
child) or 16 (Court may order payment of preliminary expenses etc.)
s 17 13 s 17
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
(c) another court declaration or order that a stated person is a stated 1
child's parent. 2
`18D Paternity presumption arising from acknowledgments 3
`(1) A man is presumed to be the father of a child if-- 4
(a) under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a prescribed 5
overseas jurisdiction, the man signs a document acknowledging 6
that he is a stated child's father; and 7
(b) the document is not annulled or otherwise set aside. 8
`(2) The presumption in subsection (1) is rebuttable. 9
`18E Paternity presumption arising from cohabitation 10
`(1) A child born to a woman is presumed to be a man's child if, during 11
the period starting 44 weeks and ending 20 weeks before the birth, the man 12
and woman cohabit, but are not married. 13
`(2) The presumption in subsection (1) is rebuttable. 14
`Division 4--Other provisions about presumptions 15
`18F Rebuttal of presumptions 16
`A presumption under this part that is rebuttable is rebuttable on the 17
balance of probabilities. 18
`18G Resolution of conflicting presumptions 19
`(1) If presumptions under this part are relevant in a proceeding and 2 or 20
more of the presumptions conflict and are not rebutted, the presumption 21
appearing to the court to be the most likely to be correct prevails. 22
`(2) However, if the conflicting presumptions include a presumption 23
under section 18C(1), the presumption under section 18C(1) prevails.1'. 24
1 Section 18C (Parentage presumption arising from court finding)
s 18 14 s 19
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
18 Replacement of s 19 (Regulations)
Clause 1
Section 19-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`19 Approval of forms 4
`The chief executive may approve forms for use under this Act. 5
`20 Regulation-making power 6
`(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations under this Act. 7
`(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a regulation may be made about-- 8
(a) the carrying out of parentage testing procedures under a 9
parentage testing order; and 10
(b) the preparation of parentage testing procedure reports; and 11
(c) fees. 12
`21 Numbering and renumbering of Act 13
`In the next reprint of this Act produced under the Reprints Act 1992, the 14
provisions of this Act must be numbered and renumbered as permitted by 15
the Reprints Act 1992, section 43. 16
`PART 5--TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 17
`Division 1--Transitional provisions for Status of Children Act 1978'. 18
19 Insertion of new pt 5 div 2
Clause 19
After section 23-- 20
insert-- 21
s 20 15 s 21
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
`Division 2--Transitional provision for Status of Children Amendment 1
Act 2001 2
`24 Proceedings 3
`The Act, as in force immediately before the commencement of this 4
section, continues to apply to a proceeding started before the 5
commencement.'. 6
PART 3--AMENDMENT OF MAINTENANCE ACT 1965 7
20 Act amended in pt 3
Clause 8
This part amends the Maintenance Act 1965. 9
21 Omission of pt 2, div 3, sdiv 2
Clause 10
Part 2, division 3, subdivision 2-- 11
omit. 12
16
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
SCHEDULE 1
MINOR AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS 2
section 3 3
1 Part 2, heading-- 4
relocate to before section 3. 5
2 Sections 3(2) and (3) and 9(2) and (4)(b), ` any instrument'-- 6
omit, insert-- 7
`a document'. 8
3 Sections 6(2), 7(1), 9(2) and (3), `an instrument'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`a document'. 11
4 Sections 7(3), 9(3) and 10(1), `or a Judge thereof'-- 12
omit. 13
5 Section 9, `instruments'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`documents'. 16
6 Section 9(1), from `An instrument' to `thereof'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`A document mentioned in section 18D or a copy of it'. 19
17
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
SCHEDULE (continued)
7 Section 9(3), `8(2)'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`18D'. 3
8 Section 9(4), `a Judge of the Supreme Court sitting in 4
chambers'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`the court'. 7
9 Section 9(4B) and (4C), `Judge'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`court'. 10
10 Section 10(1), `by way of originating summons'-- 11
omit. 12
11 Section 10(1), (2), (3) and (4), `or Judge'-- 13
omit. 14
12 Section 10(1), `, his or her'-- 15
omit. 16
13 Section 12(1), `8(2)'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`18D'. 19
18
Status of Children Amendment Bill 2001
SCHEDULE (continued)
14 Section 12(2), `8(1)'-- 1
omit, insert-- 2
`18B'. 3
15 Section 12(2), before `shall'-- 4
insert-- 5
`or a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a prescribed overseas 6
jurisdiction'. 7
8
© State of Queensland 2001
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