House of Assembly: Thursday, October 31, 2013

Contents

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL BILL

Final Stages

The Legislative Council agreed to the bill with the amendments indicated by the following schedule, to which amendments the Legislative Council desires the concurrence of the House of Assembly:

No. 1. Clause 10, page 8, lines 34 and 35—Delete 'or the District Court'

No. 2. Clause 10, page 9, line 1—Delete 'or the District Court'

No. 3. Clause 10, page 9, lines 7 and 8—Delete 'or the District Court (as the case may be)'

No. 4. Clause 10, page 9, lines 11 and 12—Delete 'or the District Court (as the case may be)'

No. 5. Clause 10, page 9, lines 18 to 22—Delete subclause (6) and substitute:

(6) Without limiting subsection (5), the Remuneration Tribunal may determine that the President's salary or allowances as a judge will have an additional component on account of holding office under this Act (and the jurisdiction to make such a determination is conferred on the Remuneration Tribunal by this Act).

No. 6. Clause 10, page 9, line 26—Delete 'or the District Court'

No. 7. Clause 10, page 9, lines 27 to 29—Delete paragraph (b) and substitute:

(b) the person, with the approval of the Governor, resigns as President by written notice to the Attorney-General; or

No. 8. Clause 10, page 9, lines 39 to 41 and page 10, line 1—Delete subclause (10) and substitute:

(10) Before the Governor makes a proclamation under this section, the Attorney-General must consult with the Chief Justice.

No. 9. Clause 14, page 12, lines 1 to 5—Delete subclause (6) and substitute:

(6) Without limiting subsection (5), in the case of an appointment under subsection (1)(a), the Remuneration Tribunal may determine that a Deputy President's salary or allowance as a judge will have an additional component on account of holding office under this Act (and the jurisdiction to make such a determination is conferred on the Remuneration Tribunal by this Act).

No. 10. Clause 14, page 12, lines 18 to 20—Delete subclause (10) and substitute:

(10) Without limiting subsection (9), in the case of an appointment under subsection (1)(b), the Remuneration Tribunal will determine the salary or allowances to be paid to the person on account of holding office under this Act (and the jurisdiction to make such a determination is conferred on the Remuneration Tribunal by this Act).

No. 11. Clause 14, page 12, line 41—Delete 'agreement of the Chief Judge' and substitute:

approval of the Governor

No. 12. Clause 19, page 16, lines 29 and 30—Delete 'or advertising under subsection (3)'

No. 13. Clause 19, page 16, lines 36 to 39—Delete subclause (10) and substitute:

(10) A senior member or ordinary member of the Tribunal—

(a) must advise the President of the Tribunal of the nature of any paid employment or professional work undertaken outside his or her duties as a member of the Tribunal; and

(b) must not engage in any such employment or work if the President informs the member that, in the President's opinion, to do so would or may conflict with the proper performance of the member's duties of office.

No. 14. Clause 69, page 38, lines 25 to 37—Leave out the clause

No. 15. Clause 70, page 39, line 2—Delete 'Unless it would be contrary to section 69, a' and substitute 'A'

No. 16. Clause 71, page 40, lines 1 to 4—Delete subclause (8)

No. 17. Clause 78, page 43, line 4—

Delete 'made available to act as members of the staff of the Tribunal' and substitute:

selected by the Registrar with the concurrence of the Chief Executive of the Department

Consideration in committee.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I move:

That the Legislative Council's amendments be agreed to.

Very briefly in relation to this matter, I would like to first of all thank the members of the Legislative Council who, by and large, supported this bill. This is something which I am very proud to be associated with. I think it is part of South Australia becoming a more sophisticated legal place. It will deliver better outcomes for citizens and I am very pleased about it.

Can I also place on the record my enormous appreciation and acknowledgment of the enormous amount of work people in the Attorney-General's Department have done to get us to this point, parliamentary counsel, and last, but certainly not least, my staff who have done an extraordinary job of being able to shepherd this thing through all stages. As always, and in this case in particular, Kim Eldridge, who has done a fantastic job of being a great supporter in here and I think briefing members of the opposition and arranging whatever could be arranged to facilitate this. I want to acknowledge the great work by those people.

Can I say in respect of the amendments it is my intention to accept all of the amendments. I just make the point that most of them are ones about which I do not have any strong view and I am happy to roll with the punches. I do think there is a fundamental disagreement between the government, and certainly the present shadow attorney, about the importance of having a requirement in this legislation that people are required to disclose information under certain protected circumstances. He has got a particular bee in his bonnet about this and keeps taking it out every time we put anything in. However, that is a matter we can visit in later elements of this legislation when we start conferring the jurisdictions so I am content to leave that debate for another day. I am accepting it in full.

Ms CHAPMAN: The opposition supports the worthy amendments.

Motion carried.