Bills

Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (17:47): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (17:48): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to introduce the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2016. This bill provides for amendments to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 (the APY Act) to improve the overall governance and administration of the APY lands by Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (the APY).

The APY Act was enacted over 30 years ago in 1981. It established an APY body corporate comprising and representing all Anangu, and transferred to this body the freehold title of over 103,000 square kilometres of land, as described in schedule 1 of the APY act.

The governing body of the APY is the APY Executive Board. Currently—and this will change—the board has 10 members elected every three years from 10 electorates, with residents of each electorate voting for one representative on the board. The executive board's integrity, leadership and representative capacity directly affects decision-making and good governance of the APY lands.

Strong governance is essential if the APY Executive Board is to operate as an institution that is effective and accountable to the communities it represents. The APY Executive Board has faced difficulties in achieving stable and effective governance, with organisational instability and problems with financial management. However, over the last 12 months significant progress has been made by the APY to improve its administration and financial accountability. A range of new processes have been implemented, including training to develop employee capability with respect to financial management.

APY funding for 2014-15 was released contingent on new requirements and conditions being implemented, which included:

the implementation of strict delegations for approving payment, with only the general manager having authority for approval;

the undertaking of an independent audit of spending and financial controls for the period July 2014 to December 2014; and

a requirement for specific documentation to be provided on the APY website, including minutes of APY Executive Board meetings, monthly financial reports and annual reports.

The Auditor-General noted in his 30 June 2015 report:

It was evident from our review that DSD and the Minister…had implemented more stringent conditions on the release of the grant funding in…2014-15 and…continued to facilitate processes that aim to improve governance and accountability arrangements for APY, including initiating a number of external reviews.

Assistance to improve the executive board's governance was sought by the former minister in 2013 through the commissioning of an independent, limited review of the APY Act. This review examined potential improvements to the election process and the composition of the board. The Independent Review Panel, comprised of its chair the Hon. Dr Robyn Layton AO QC, Mr Harry Miller, Ms April Lawrie-Smith and Mr John Hill, consulted extensively on the APY lands throughout 2013. The panel visited the APY lands eight times for 24 separate meetings. In April 2014, the panel submitted its final report to the former minister, who provided it to the APY Executive Board.

The key recommendations of the Layton review included creating gender balance on the APY Executive Board, changing the electoral process to improve representation of all Anangu and changes to candidate eligibility requirements for election to the board. The Layton review's recommendations were carefully considered in the development of the draft 2015 bill for consultation.

From December 2015 until May 2016, consultation on the 2015 bill was undertaken by departmental staff who conducted 22 feedback sessions with key APY leadership groups on the APY lands and in Alice Springs, including the APY Executive, members of the Law and Culture Committee and chairs of community councils. Consultation also occurred with government and non-government stakeholders in Adelaide and Port Augusta, and five written submissions had been received.

The feedback received from the consultations, as well as the Layton review recommendations and the government's policy approach have all informed the development of this Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2016. In summary, this bill seeks to improve governance and administration within the APY lands through its key reforms, which:

provide for gender balance on the APY Executive Board;

establish seven electorates whose composition creates a more even population spread;

provide for an APY Executive Board of up to 14 members;

establish APY Executive Board member minimum eligibility criteria, thereby improving board member respect and leadership;

provide greater certainty for election dates, ensuring elections are held between 1 May and 31 August every three years;

establish a panel of conciliators, thereby providing a more effective and transparent process for their appointment;

provide greater consistency of eligibility criteria for APY statutory officers and APY Executive Board members;

ensure that APY Executive board members live in their electorate for the majority of their term in office;

establish eligibility criteria for Anangu voters through an electoral role, providing more certainty in election outcomes;

remove voting by marbles to facilitate greater voting options for Anangu;

enable absentee voting for Anangu out of their home communities; and

provide transitional provisions, including for the first election under the new regime, to facilitate a timely first election following the passing of this bill.

These are important reforms that will bring greater diversity, credibility and representation to the APY Executive Board, as well as improving APY administration and the electoral process. The intention of the amendments contained in this bill is to provide for a strong and representative APY Executive Board, half of whom will be Anangu women, whose membership will have the respect of their community and whose members will be leaders well placed to meet the challenges of governments on their lands.

Good governance will positively affect the health and wellbeing of about 2,500 Anangu living in the APY lands. Strong leadership and decision-making can build the confidence of the community and external stakeholders, facilitating the provision of services, programs and development initiatives. Not only do Anangu benefit from good governance but all South Australians are enriched by improving the health and vibrancy of Anangu culture and communities, and by recognising and respecting the continuing practices of the world's oldest living culture. I commend the bill to members and seek leave to have the detailed explanation of clauses inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981

4—Amendment of section 4—Interpretation

This clause inserts a definition of 'serious offence' into section 4 of the principle Act.

5—Amendment of section 4A—Objects

This clause amends section 4A of the principal Act to include, as an object of the Act, the fact that both Anangu men and Anangu women are afforded the opportunity to have equal representation on the Executive Board.

6—Amendment of section 5—Constitution of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara as body corporate

This clause makes a consequential amendment to section 5 of the principal Act.

7—Amendment of section 9—Executive Board of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara

This clause amends section 9 of the principal Act to vary the composition of the Executive Board so that it now consists of up to 14 members (being 1 man and 1 woman from each of the electorates).

The clause substitutes new section 9(6)(a), prescribing the period within which elections must be held.

8—Amendment of section 9D—Casual vacancies

This clause amends section 9D of the principal Act to provide further grounds on which a casual vacancy occurs in an office of the Executive Board.

First, the Executive Board may remove a member if he or she resides (without leave) outside of the electorate from which he or she was elected for a total period of more than 3 months in any 12 month period.

Second, a member's office is automatically vacated if he or she is found guilty of a serious offence as defined.

The clause also makes consequential amendments to the holding of supplementary elections arising out of the new gender requirements for members.

9—Amendment of section 10—Procedure of the Executive Board

This clause makes consequential amendments to section 10 of the principal Act.

10—Amendment of section 13B—Director of Administration

This clause amends section 13B of the principal Act to make consistent the kinds of conduct that will see a person prevented from being appointed as Director of Administration.

11—Amendment of section 13D—General Manager

This clause amends section 13D of the principal Act to make consistent the kinds of conduct that will see a person prevented from being appointed as General Manager.

12—Amendment of section 13G—Termination of appointment of Director of Administration or General Manager by Executive Board

This clause makes amendments to section 13G of the principal Act consequent on the amendment of sections 13B and 13D.

13—Substitution of section 35

This clause inserts new sections 35 and 35A into the principal Act as follows:

35—Minister to appoint panel of conciliators

This section empowers the Minister to establish a panel of conciliators and makes procedural provision accordingly.

35A—Application for conciliation

This section enables an Anangu who is aggrieved by a decision or action of the Executive Board to apply to the Minister for conciliation, and makes provision as to how the Minister is to deal with such applications.

14—Amendment of section 36—Conciliation

This clause makes consequential amendments to section 36 of the principal Act reflecting the change from a single conciliator to a panel of conciliators.

15—Amendment of section 37—Order compelling compliance with direction of conciliator

This clause makes a consequential amendment to section 37 of the principal Act reflecting the change from a single conciliator to a panel of conciliators.

16—Amendment of Schedule 3—Rules of election under section 9

This clause amends Schedule 3 of the principal Act to vary the rules by which an election of members of the Executive Board is to be conducted. The changes of note are as follows:

Subclause (3) requires 7 electorates to be constituted by regulation.

Subclause (7) sets out changes to requirements that must be met for nomination for office, including a requirement that the candidate have lived in the relevant electorate for the 3 months preceding nomination, and a requirement that a criminal history report be obtained in relation to the candidate before the election (to be paid for by the Electoral Commissioner).

Proposed clause 6A of the Schedule provides for the establishment of an electoral roll for elections, with eligibility to vote requiring enrolment.

Subclause (10) inserts a requirement that the returning officer provide for absentee voting in Adelaide and Alice Springs on election day.

Schedule 1—Transitional provisions

1—Executed documents

This clause continues to apply section 5(4) of the principal Act (before amendment by this measure) to documents executed before the commencement of section 6 of the measure.

2—Casual vacancies

This clause provides that section 9D(5) and (6) of the principal Act (as in force before the commencement of this clause) do not apply to certain vacancies in the office of a member of the Executive Board, in effect allowing those vacancies to not be filled until the next election.

3—First election of members of the Executive Board

This clause makes special provisions for the first election of members of the Executive Board under section 9 of that Act following the commencement of this measure. In particular, the clause sets out the electorates, disapplies certain provisions of the principal Act specifying time limits and requires the first election to be held as soon as is reasonably practicable. The clause also allows the returning officer to make further rules, or to modify existing rules, to allow the election to be conducted in appropriate manner.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.