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

To move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the following bills, allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings:

Business Names Registration Bill 2011

Business Names Registration (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Bill 2011

Business Names Registration (Fees) Bill 2011

National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2011.

I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the following bills, allowing them to be considered during this period of sittings:

Business Names Registration Bill 2011 and two related bills, and the

National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2011.

I also table statements of reasons justifying the need for these bills to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statements incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statements read as follows—

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR INTRODUCTION AND PASSAGE IN THE 2011 SPRING SITTINGS

BUSINESS NAMES REGISTRATION BILL

BUSINESS NAMES REGISTRATION (TRANSITIONAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL PROVISIONS) BILL

BUSINESS NAMES REGISTRATION (FEES) BILL

Purpose of the Bills

To establish a national business names registration system. These cognate bills will cause the existing eight state/territory business names registration systems to be replaced by a single, national, online registration system for business names and Australian Business Numbers (ABNs), thus enabling businesses to register for both a national business name and an ABN in one transaction.

Reasons for Urgency

The ABN/Business Name Project is part of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), National Partnership Agreement To Deliver A Seamless National Economy, of December 2008. Establishing a national ABN/Business Names scheme requires a referral of constitutional powers from the states to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth and each of the states, need to enact legislation to meet the COAG approved timeline, which will see the new national business names registration system commence on 28 May 2012.

STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR INTRODUCTION AND PASSAGE IN THE 2011 SPRING SITTINGS

NATIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING REGULATOR AMENDMENT BILL

Purpose of the Bill

On 7 December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments agreed to the creation of a National Vocational Education and Training Regulator and a Standards Council. On 24 March 2011 Parliament passed the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2010 (the NVR Act). The NVR Act formed the national VET regulator as a new statutory authority, which will be known as the Australian Skills Quality Authority, with responsibilities and powers for the registration and auditing of registered training organisations (RTOs) and accreditation of courses in the VET sector. The NVR Act also established strengthened mechanisms for the monitoring and enforcement of the regulatory framework.

The bill addresses particular concerns and recommendations identified by the Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills Committee and the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee that were unable to be addressed prior to the passage of the NVR Act.

Reasons for Urgency

Introduction and passage of the bill through Parliament is a prerequisite to the further text based referral of powers by state governments.

New South Wales has made a text based referral of powers to the Commonwealth. Three other states have indicated that they will make referrals to the Commonwealth to empower the National VET Regulator and two states have indicated that they will pass mirroring legislation. Timely passage of the bill is therefore necessary to provide clarity to those states referring powers to the Commonwealth and certainty to those states that are mirroring the legislation as to what they need to legislate.