Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on behalf of Mr Keenan, the member for Stirling, on the Acts Interpretation Amendment Bill 2011, which amends the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. The Acts Interpretation Act is an important Commonwealth act that provides general guidance and rules for interpreting all Commonwealth legislation. The bill's explanatory memorandum includes a quote from Australia's first Attorney-General, Alfred Deakin, who said on the second reading of the Acts Interpretation Bill on 6 June 1901, the act:

… is a measure providing for the simplification of the language of Acts of Parliament and the shortening of their terminology. It constitutes in a sense a legal dictionary, particular meanings being assigned by it to particular phrases, which must be used over and over again in almost every Act of Parliament.

The coalition supports the passage of this bill, which aims to modernise the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 by: co-locating the definitions currently scattered throughout the act; placing the act's provisions in a more logical order; providing that an action by a minister other than the minister who is authorised to perform that action is not invalid merely on that basis; inserting a new section to confirm, for the avoidance of doubt, that the common law de facto officer doctrine applies, which will ensure that if an officer has been invalidly appointed, acts performed by the officer in that position are not automatically invalidated, a doctrine that was affirmed by the High Court in Cassell v The Queen (2000); specifying that everything in an act as enacted by the parliament should be considered part of an act; allowing meeting participants to be in different locations and to participate using technology such as video conferencing; and adjusting the definition of 'document' to include things like maps, plans, drawings and photographs.

In 1993 the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs published a report on the drafting of Commonwealth legislation titled Clearer Commonwealth law. One of the committee's recommendations was that the Attorney-General's Department and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel should publicly review and rewrite the Acts Interpretation Act. In response, the Attorney-General's Department and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel jointly issued a discussion paper entitled Review of the Commonwealth Acts Interpretation Act 1901 in 1998. Following consultation on the discussion paper, a number of recommendations were made to improve the useability and readability of the Acts Interpretation Act. The member for Sterling would gladly tell you that this Bill is the result of that process and I commend the bill to the House.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Acts Interpretation Amendment Bill 2011. The fact that the Acts Interpretation Act was passed in 1901 is an indication of the importance of that legislation since Federation. In the early days we passed some legislation in the House of Representatives and we now look back upon it. In fact I think the first piece of legislation passed in the House of Representatives enshrined what we now call the 'white Australia policy', so we do not think every piece of legislation that was passed in the earliest days was good, but the Acts Interpretation Act certainly was.

The member for Herbert mentioned Alfred Deakin before. I am 100 per cent convinced that in view of his attitudes to social reform and industrial relations if Mr Deakin were here today he would be a member of the Labor Party. I am convinced of it. I do not think he would be a member of the Liberal Party, which is certainly not the party of Deakin, that is for sure. He was a great reformer and a terrific Prime Minister. I think he would have fitted in quite well to the Labor Unity faction of the Australian Labor Party—a moderate reformer I can truly say, but that is another story for another day. Certainly we will have that debate, but I claim Deakin as a forerunner to the Labor Party these days.

This legislation actually makes some changes. It provides general rules for interpretation of all Commonwealth legislation and improves its structure, its readability and its operation. I think that there clearly is a need for legislation you can refer to, because a lot of legislation actually has at about section 4 or 5 an interpretation and definitions section and it does not always cover the nature of definitions that are required. Having one source means that it is easier for parliamentary draftspersons to draft legislation and have everyone know what the true meaning of it is, because it can be found in the Acts Interpretation Act. It is semantic, but it is a really useful interpretation guide. In this regard, clearer laws are very important not just for courts and lawyers but for the general Australian population.

The bill amends the Acts Interpretation Act by co-locating definitions and co-locating other provisions that are not currently in logical order and by modernising concepts that we would not have found in 1901. There are important measures such as the concept allowing participants to be in different locations and to use technology such as videoconferencing. I am convinced that that was not around in 1901! Also, the bill amends the definition of 'document' to include things like maps, plans, drawings and photographs, and certainly photography has come a long way since 1901.

As the member for Herbert said, there is a long history to this. It went through quite a process to get there. The Attorney-General's Department engaged in a lot of consultation. All Commonwealth agencies were actually involved in the process from some years ago. A public exposure of the draft bill was released for consultation on 20 January and 25 February this year. Also, the bill was revised to take into consideration comments from various government departments, a steering committee, representatives from the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing, the Australian Government Solicitor and a variety of other people. So there was a lot of input into this legislation. It is important because it helps us, and the Australian population, to understand the law. It updates concepts and languages that are important and it decreases the size of the Commonwealth statute book by including general rules and definitions. Anyone who studied the Income Tax Assessment Act, as I did at law school all those years ago, will realise you could have used it as a dumbbell rather than read it, because it was so heavy. I recall the size of it and I understand that it has gotten bigger under successive governments since that time. But we have undertaken the task of making it more modern and improving its readability.

There are significant improvements in this legislation. They will improve the clarity of Commonwealth legislation generally. That is consistent with our commitment to ensure the accessibility of the criminal and civil justice systems of this country to all around the country. We hope that people will have a better understanding of Australian Commonwealth law as a result of the Acts Interpretation Act amendments.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Attorney-General, I thank members for their contribution to the debate. In the 2009-10 financial year, 220 bills, totalling around 9,300 pages, were introduced into this parliament. The number of pages would have been significantly larger if it were not for statutes such as the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, which includes common provisions that do not need to be repeated across Commonwealth legislation. These common provisions relate to matters such as the commencement dates of acts, the effect of the repeal of an act, rules about acting appointments, referencing gender, attainment of age, determining distance and time, as well as definitions of readily used terms. Over the years, these provisions have been amended, or new provisions have been added, without particular regard to the overall clarity of this legislation. Many of the provisions also retain the old drafting style of the early to mid-1900s.

The Acts Interpretation Amendment Bill 2011 addresses these issues by comprehensively amending the Acts Interpretation Act to improve its structure, language and application to modern technology. By restructuring this act, the important rules and definitions contained within it are now much easier to find. Simple measures such as co-locating definitions in part II of the act and listing these in alphabetical order increase the usability of the act tenfold. The redrafting of many of the older provisions in plain English will also assist users to understand how these provisions apply to their situation. Importantly, for the 21st century the bill provides that participants of a meeting can be in different locations and can dial in using technology such as Skype and videoconferencing, as the member for Blair indicated. The drafting of these provisions was deliberately broad so as to encompass further technological changes that may occur.

As the Attorney stated when introducing this bill:

Modernisation of one of the first Commonwealth acts will help to reduce the complexity of legislation that has developed since Federation.

Complex legislation makes it difficult, expensive and time consuming for people to understand their legal rights and obligations. This creates burdens for business and restricts access to justice. This bill underlines the government's ongoing commitment to take measures to improve the clarity and accessibility of laws. On behalf of the Attorney-General, I would again like to thank the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for the significant time and effort that went into preparing this bill. I would also like to thank the individuals and organisations who made comments on the bill when it was released as an exposure draft earlier this year. Finally, I would like to mention the 1993 report of the House Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs entitled Clearer Commonwealth law, which recommended that a public review of the Acts Interpretation Act be undertaken and led to the amendments that are included in this bill. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.