Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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—

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT (EXTENDED MEDICARE SAFETY NET) BILL 2014

This Bill amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to increase the general Extended Medicare Safety Net threshold and introduces a minor administrative change in seeking confirmation of family composition.

The Extended Medicare Safety Net provides individuals and families with an additional rebate for their out-of-hospital Medicare services once an annual threshold of out of pocket costs for out-of-hospital services is reached.

Out-of-hospital services include GP and specialist attendances and services provided in private clinics and private emergency departments.

Once the relevant annual threshold has been met, Medicare will pay for 80 per cent of any future out-of-pocket costs for Medicare eligible out of hospital services for the remainder of the calendar year.

There are two Extended Medicare Safety Net thresholds: the concessional (lower) threshold for Commonwealth concession card holders; and the general (upper) threshold for all other Australians. From 1 January 2006, the concessional threshold increased to $500 and the general threshold increased to $1,000. The thresholds are indexed to the Consumer Price Index at the start of each calendar year. In 2014, the Concessional threshold is $624.10 and the general threshold is $1,248.70.

As announced by the previous Government in the 2013-14 Budget, the general threshold of the Extended Medicare Safety Net will be increased to $2,000 from 1 January 2015. The concessional Extended Medicare Safety Net threshold will be indexed as usual and will not be impacted by this Bill. This Bill contributes to a more sustainable Medicare system.

These measures are a significant change to the Medicare system. It is important to note that they were a commitment taken by the previous Government in their last Budget. The will save $105.6 million and are included in the Forward Estimates. Because of the fiscal situation bequeathed by the former Government we must continue with these changes.

Other provision—confirm family composition for the EMSN

This improves the efficiency of Government service delivery and the timeliness of payment of benefits to patients. This Bill removes the requirement for the Chief Executive of Medicare to request the confirmation of family composition (for Extended Medicare Safety Net purposes) only in writing.

Currently, to ensure that the correct out-of-pocket costs have been attributed to the Extended Medicare Safety Net threshold, if a registered family is identified to be approaching the Extended Medicare Safety Net threshold and will soon be entitled to receive Extended Medicare Safety Net benefits, the Chief Executive of Medicare must, in writing, request confirmation of their family composition.

Receiving confirmation in writing increases the time families must wait to receive their Extended Medicare Safety Net benefits. This amendment allows the Chief Executive of Medicare to determine how they would like to contact a family to confirm their family composition to allow a more streamlined process and ensure faster payment to patients.

This Bill will allow the Government to responsibly manage expenditure on Extended Medicare Safety Net and reduce the administrative burden on the Department of Human Services. This is important for supporting the sustainability of the Extended Medicare Safety Net while singles and families can continue to receive additional assistance with their out-of-pocket costs.

REGULATORY POWERS (STANDARD PROVISIONS) BILL 2014

The Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Bill 2014 is an important reform to achieve improved regulatory outcomes and enhance access to justice.

This Government is determined to reduce regulation and make Commonwealth laws clear and accessible. This Bill will significantly simplify and streamline Commonwealth regulatory powers across the statute book over time, and improve the accessibility, efficiency and effectiveness of the federal justice system.

The Bill will make it easier for businesses that are subject to regulatory regimes to understand and comply with the law. It will also provide greater clarity to those agencies currently exercising regulatory powers under multiple regimes.

The Bill provides a framework of powers for general application across regulatory schemes for monitoring compliance with, investigating breaches of, and enforcing, Commonwealth laws.

These powers will only be available in relation to a regulatory scheme if the governing legislation triggers or engages the powers provided in this Bill. These powers can be triggered in whole or in part, depending on the requirements of the particular scheme.

The monitoring provisions provide a framework for agencies to monitor whether legislation is being complied with. They also provide agencies with the power to monitor whether information given in compliance, or purported compliance, with a law, is correct.

The investigation provisions provide a framework for gathering evidence that relates to the contravention of offences and civil penalty provisions. These powers include the power to search premises and seize evidential material, and to inspect, test, or copy evidential material.

There are also monitoring and investigation powers for operating electronic equipment and securing electronic equipment to obtain expert assistance.

The Bill also provides a framework for the use of civil penalties, infringement notices, enforceable understandings and injunctions.

Over the last 20 years there has been an enormous proliferation of regulatory powers and associated provisions, across the Commonwealth statute book. These powers and provisions vary in their breadth and detail, resulting in inconsistency or unnecessary duplication across regimes.

This creates an unnecessary compliance burden for businesses subject to scrutiny or supervision by multiple regulatory regimes. Current inconsistent regulatory regimes require businesses to incur legal costs and face increased risk as they struggle to understand the applicable regime, let alone differences between them.

Further, the inconsistency and duplication of powers makes it difficult for agencies to perform their regulatory functions where they may exercise powers across several regulatory regimes with different governing legislation.

Provisions relating to the enforcement of a regulatory regime can easily increase the length of legislation by 30 pages, and by up to 80 pages for some regimes.

The Bill will be rolled out in three stages. In Stage One, new laws that require monitoring, investigation or enforcement powers of the kinds available under the Regulatory Powers Bill will be drafted to trigger the relevant provisions.

In Stage Two, laws that have been drafted over recent years using precedents based on the Regulatory Powers Bill will be amended to remove those provisions and instead trigger the relevant provisions of this Bill.

In Stage Three, monitoring, investigation and enforcement regimes in current laws may be reviewed and amended to instead trigger the relevant provisions in the Regulatory Powers Bill.

Over time, the amount of duplication between these laws will be significantly reduced.

The powers contained in this Bill will not be suitable for all regulatory regimes. Specialised powers will continue to be needed, for example, by law enforcement and security agencies which deal with national security or serious and organised crime.

Importantly, the key safeguards of Parliamentary scrutiny will be maintained, as the powers in the Bill are rolled out across regulatory regimes. The primary legislation which governs a regulatory scheme will need to trigger the powers in this Bill. These legislative amendments will provide Parliament with the opportunity to scrutinise the suitability of powers in the particular context in which it is proposed that they be exercised.

This also means that an assessment of the human rights implications will be undertaken each time a Bill proposes to apply provisions of the Regulatory Powers Bill. This will require consideration based on the context of the particular regulatory scheme and the specific regulatory provisions that are triggered.

There are also operational safeguards included in the Bill.

Entry to premises can only be authorised by informed and voluntary consent, or by judicial authorisation. If entry has been granted by consent, and that consent is subsequently withdrawn, the agency must leave the premises.

If entry is authorised by warrant, the agency must make a copy of the warrant available to the occupier of the premises, and provide them with written notification of their rights and responsibilities. This includes the right for the occupier to observe the execution of the warrant.

The Bill also provides for the Courts to have sufficient oversight to ensure against the risk of abuse or the arbitrary exercise of power by an agency.

Where an infringement notice is issued, a person may elect to have a matter heard by a Court rather than pay an infringement notice. This right must be set out in the infringement notice issued to the person.

Significantly, the Bill also preserves fundamental common law privileges. Individuals who are subject to these powers must be informed of their rights and responsibilities, and will continue to have the right to refuse to answer a question or produce documents if doing so would tend to incriminate them or waive legal professional privilege.

The Regulatory Powers Bill is an important step in simplifying and streamlining the Commonwealth's regulatory frameworks, and in doing so, improving the accessibility and consistency of these laws.

This will make it easier for individuals and businesses to know and understand their rights and responsibilities and be able to more readily comply with the law. This will reduce legal costs and risks, promote greater access to justice and reduce the regulatory burden on businesses that are subject to multiple regimes.

The Bill will also ensure that Commonwealth regulatory powers are sufficiently certain and predictable, while being flexible, to ensure that agencies with specialised functions can operate effectively.

Debate adjourned.

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