Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Hansard source

I table the explanatory memoranda relating to the bills and I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS (INDICIA AND IMAGES) PROTECTION AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2021

The purpose of the Bill is to protect sponsorship and licensing revenue from the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia New Zealand 2023 and International Cricket Council T20 World Cup 2022 from being undermined by ambush marketing. Ambush marketing is the unauthorised commercial use of event indicia (or expressions) and images. This will be achieved by including the FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup as recognised major sporting events under the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 (the Act).

The Bill also removes a schedule relating to a historical sporting event that will no longer provide protections under the Act, being the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

In addition, the Bill makes a minor and technical amendment to the Sport Integrity Australia Act 2020 to correct an erroneous reference to an article of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code). The Code's article numbering changed due to revisions that commenced from 1 January 2021.

The Bill is consistent with the approach the Australian Government took when it legislated to protect the indicia and images for the ICC T20 Women's Cricket World Cup 2020, Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, AFC Asian Cup 2015 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

It also meets a commitment by the Australian Government to provide such intellectual property rights protection for both the FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup.

The hosting of these two events in Australia provides a unique opportunity to showcase our country to the world from a tourism, trade and event delivery perspective. It will further strengthen Australia's reputation as a world-class host of major international sporting events, with the Australian Government playing a critical role in facilitating the appropriate environment that makes such success possible.

The FIFA Women's World Cup will see 32 teams compete across Australia and New Zealand. It will be the first FIFA Women's World Cup to be held in the Asia-Pacific region, and the first ever to be held in the southern hemisphere. The FIFA Women's World Cup teams will include many of the world's most talented female footballers and showcase international football to diverse audiences in Australia and around the world. The FIFA Women's World Cup tournament is scheduled for July – August 2023, with five Australian cities to host match content.

The T20 World Cup will see 16 of the world's best men's teams come to Australia to play T20 cricket, with potential broadcast and digital audiences reaching in excess of 1.5 billion people from more than 200 countries worldwide. These T20 World Cup teams will represent the pinnacle of international sporting competition and include some of the world's most talented male cricketers. The T20 World Cup tournament is scheduled for October-November 2022.

For the owners and organisers of these events, this international profile provides the opportunity to showcase the sports of football and cricket to existing and new audiences, build a legacy and attract commercial partners that will invest in the event and the sports of football and cricket into the future. Event owners and organisers rely heavily on revenue generated by television rights, ticket sales, sponsorship and licensing to ensure their event can be delivered and continues to be an attractive and a viable financial proposition to future host countries. It is this profile and the commercial realities that necessitate the sorts of protections for the FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup that are in the Bill.

Major events have long been targets of those that would seek to create an impression of association with the event in order to achieve commercial gain without having purchased the rights and therefore invested in the sport, to claim that association. This act, known as 'ambush marketing by association', has the capacity to diminish the value of sponsorship, reduce the incentive for organisations to enter into commercial arrangements with events, and reduce the overall event revenue. In turn, this has the ability to increase the financial impact on government to support such events.

The Bill will protect the use of a range of expressions associated with the FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup from ambush marketing and unlicensed commercial use in the lead up to, during and in the immediate aftermath of each tournament.

In addition to protecting specific event-related terminology, the Bill also provides protection to certain images that in the circumstances of their presentation suggest, or are likely to suggest, a connection with the FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup. These images may be either visual or aural representations.

While it is important to protect tournament sponsors from ambush marketing, the rights of the community to freedom of expression must also be respected, particularly in relation to words that have passed into common usage. A pragmatic approach has been taken with generic words and references excluded from the list of protected expressions. It must also be emphasised that restrictions on the usage of FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup indicia and images will apply only to their unlicensed commercial use.

A number of exceptions will exist in relation to the FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup allowing for:

Trade Marks Act 1995Design Act 2003Copyright Act 1968

In line with the Australian Government's deregulation agenda, the Bill is not intended to increase the burden on business or affect their everyday operations. The Bill fully protects the rights of the existing holders to use FIFA Women's World Cup and T20 World Cup indicia and images to carry out their business functions.

The new protections will cease to have effect after 31 December 2024 for the FIFA Women's World Cup and after 13 November 2023 for the T20 World Cup, approximately one year after the completion of each event. This is consistent with other major sporting events protected by the Act.

NATIONAL HEALTH AMENDMENT (DECISIONS UNDER THE CONTINENCE AIDS PAYMENT SCHEME) BILL 2021

The National Health Amendment (Decisions under the Continence Aids Payment Scheme) Bill 2021(the Bill)makes minor amendments to the National Health Act 1953 (the Act) to expressly provide for the Continence Aids Payment Scheme Instrument 2020 (the CAPS Instrument) to confer review functions on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

On 16 January 2021, the CAPS Instrument was amended by the Continence Aids Payment Scheme Amendment (Merits Review) Instrument 2020 (Merits Review Instrument 2020), to provide for internal review of decisions by the Secretary of the Department of Health (the Department) under the CAPS Instrument. The Secretary delegates power and functions to the executive in the Department with responsibility for the CAPS Instrument.

The Merits Review Instrument 2020 also enables CAPS participants or their nominated organisation affected by the Secretary's internal review decision to apply for an independent merits review by the AAT of the initial review decision made by the Secretary.

The Bill amendments to the ACT will validate AAT review decisions made under the CAPS Instrument.

CAPS participants are unlikely to seek an independent merits review by the AAT, as Services Australia who administers the program works with CAPS applicants to resolve issues relating to their eligibility.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that further consideration of the second reading of these bills be adjourned to the first sitting day of the next period of sittings, in accordance with standing order 111.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.