Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

by leave—I move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to this bill.

I table a statement of reasons justifying the need for this bill to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statement incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

Purpose of the Bill

The Bill amends the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (the Act) to enable the registration of emergency service and government telephone numbers and all fax numbers. It also enables the Minister to specify, by legislative instrument, the period of registration. It is proposed that initially this period will be set at five years.

Reasons for urgency

The Register established under the Act commenced on 31 May 2007, with the registration period set at 3 years in order to allow disconnected and reassigned numbers to be removed from the Register periodically, so as to maintain the accuracy of the Register.

Initial registrations begin to automatically drop off the Register from 31 May 2010 if they have not re-registered.     

The Government is introducing an amendment in this Bill that will enable the Minister to determine the length of the registration period.  It is intended that the initial Determination, proposed to come into effect at the same time as the Bill will extend the registration period to five years, including for those already on the Register.

Passage of the Bill in this sitting will ensure that the Bill is enacted and comes into effect before the first registrants begin to drop off the Register on 31 May 2010.

Question agreed to.