Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 8758 together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (table item 3), omit "12 months", substitute "18 months".

(2) Page 2 (after line 12), after clause 3, add:

4 Review of the accessibility of patents

  (1) The Minister must cause a review of the accessibility of patents for small and medium sized enterprises within 3 months of the commencement of this section.

  (2) Without limiting the matters the review should consider, the persons conducting the review must examine:

(a) the cost of applications for patents; and

(b) processing times of patents; and

(c) advice provided by the Australian Government with respect to the patent application process; and

(d) awareness of the patent application process.

  (3) The persons conducting the review must provide the Minister with a written report of the review within 12 months of the commencement of the review.

  (4) The Minister must cause copies of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the report is given to the Minister.

In speaking to those now, I would highlight to the chamber that we have recognised the need to address the issues that this bill has put forward. We did raise our concern about the lack of time that small-to-medium enterprises have in adjusting to these new arrangements, and we would like to see time in place for IP Australia to be able to work through issues with small business so that new arrangements can be put in place. We're grateful to the government for listening to our concerns in this regard.