Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in favour of the Civil Law and Justice (Omnibus Amendments) Bill 2015. As the title would indicate, this is an omnibus bill containing a large number of largely minor, technical changes to a range of Commonwealth acts within the Attorney-General's portfolio. It deals primarily with the federal courts, the newly amalgamated Administrative Appeals Tribunal, bankruptcy and international arbitration legislation.

The measures in this bill are uncontroversial. The bill clarifies provisions which are presently capable of ambiguity. It updates or repeals obsolete provisions in a range of Commonwealth statutes. The bill makes various drafting and stylistic changes, including renumbering of provisions to enhance the readability of the Commonwealth statute book. The bill also makes small changes to the procedures which apply in the rare instances in which criminal proceedings are brought in the Federal Court and to the way in which juries are managed by that court. It also makes small amendments to the procedures which apply in bankruptcies and in international arbitrations. Labor is happy to support this bill. I commend the bill to the Senate.