Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee’s report entitled Report 96: Treaties Tabled on 16 September 2008.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a brief statement in connection with the report. Report 96 contains the committee’s findings on two treaty actions tabled on 16 September this year. The committee found both treaties reviewed to be in Australia’s national interest.

The agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organisation in relation to the functioning of the Australian Patent Office as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty will extend an existing internationally prestigious appointment for the Australian Patent Office. The agreement is necessary for Australia to function as a competent search and examination authority for international patent applications and will eliminate unnecessary repetition and provide significant cost savings for patent applicants. In its consideration of this agreement, the committee noted that the agreement received very positive support from industry and professional organisations. In addition, becoming a signatory to the agreement would not impose any additional costs to Australia above Australia’s existing annual membership contribution to WIPO of about $750,000.

The committee was informed that, as IP Australia is the only international authority Australian patent applicants can use, there would, however, be a cost to industry if the agreement does not proceed. Therefore the committee recognises the advantages to Australian business and industry arising from the appointment of the Australian Patent Office as an international authority as well as the contribution that this appointment makes to Australia’s international standing in intellectual property fora.

The Partial Revision of the 2004 Radio Regulations, as incorporated in the International Telecommunication Union Final Acts of the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) proposes that Australia consents to be bound by the partial revision of the 2004 radio regulations, as incorporated in the final acts of the World Radiocommunication Conference. The committee recognises that this agreement would align Australia with the rest of the world in its regulation of the radiofrequency spectrum. While, under the agreement, Australia would retain its sovereign right to control transmissions within and into its territory and to protect Australian users from interference from foreign systems, the agreement makes a number of changes that impact on the international allocation and use of the radiofrequency spectrum.

Some of the key changes include: the identification of new bands for international mobile telecommunications; updating international regulations related to maritime mobile services to reflect current maritime communications technology, including distress and safety transmissions within the global maritime distress and safety system; enhancing and modernising aeronautical security and civil aviation telecommunications systems; extending the primary frequency allocations for earth-exploration satellite services, which monitor natural emissions of planets, with consequent applications such as predicting and monitoring natural disasters and meteorological and climate change; and approving proposals for the further development of satellite systems using highly inclined orbits and high-altitude platform stations as well as the compatibility and sharing between different space and terrestrial services. In addition, the WRC-07 revisions also advocate the development of spectrum management guidelines for radiocommunications in emergency and disaster relief, as well as identification and maintenance of available frequencies for use in the early stages of humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of a disaster.

There are no costs to Commonwealth, state or territory governments arising from the proposed treaty action, and Australian industry and government representatives were consulted, and there was general support for the proposed treaty action. However, the committee did receive a submission from various Western Australian agencies that raised concerns in relation to band reallocation and the impact this would have on law enforcement agencies. The committee considers it would be prudent for the government to give further consideration to these concerns. The committee supports both agreements and has recommended that binding treaty action be taken. I conclude by extending my appreciation to the work of the secretariat of the treaties committee, including the outgoing secretary, Russell Chafer, the inquiry secretaries, Kevin Bodel, Sonya Fladun and Julia Searle, and the administrative officers, Emma Martin and Dorota Cooley, for their mighty efforts throughout the year.