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2008-2009
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
SENATE
COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009
REVISED EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by the authority of the
Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs,
the Hon Jenny Macklin MP)
COORDINATOR- GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009
OUTLINE
This bill establishes a statutory position of Coordinator-General for
Remote Indigenous Services (Coordinator-General).
The bill specifies the functions and powers of the Coordinator-General and
provides for appointment by the Governor-General. The bill also provides
for the terms and conditions under which the Coordinator-General will hold
office, the way in which the Coordinator-General may obtain the assistance
of staff and reporting procedures for the Coordinator-General.
In November 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) signed a
National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery. Through this
agreement, the Commonwealth, the States and the Northern Territory made a
commitment to work together with Indigenous communities to improve
Indigenous Australians' access to government services, including early
childhood, health, housing and welfare services through a single government
interface.
The role of Coordinator-General is to provide strategic central leadership
and coordination of the overall Remote Service Delivery Strategy in
Indigenous communities specified by the Minister. The Coordinator-General
will cut through administrative barriers and ensure that services are
delivered effectively.
Financial impact statement
|Financial impact | |Total resourcing |
|2009-10 | |$2.2 m |
|2010-11 | |$2.2 m |
|2011-12 | |$2.3 m |
|2012-13 | |$2.3 m |
COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE INDIGENOUS SERVICES BILL 2009
NOTES ON CLAUSES
PART 1 - PRELIMINARY
Clause 1 - Short title
This clause provides for the Act to be cited as the Coordinator-General for
Remote Indigenous Services Act 2009.
Clause 2 - Commencement
This clause provides that the bill will commence on the day on which it
receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3 - Object of Act
This clause specifies that the object of the Act is to provide for a
Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services, who will monitor,
assess, advise in relation to, and drive the development and delivery of
services and facilities by governments, in each remote location specified
by the Minister, to a standard comparable with that in non-Indigenous
communities of a similar size, location and needs elsewhere in Australia.
Clause 4 - Definitions
This clause provides for the definition of some terms used in the Act. In
particular:
Agency Head means the same as the use of that term in the Public Service
Act 1999;
Closing the Gap targets means the six targets in the National Indigenous
Reform Agreement as described in the definition;
Coordinator-General means the office of Coordinator-General for Remote
Indigenous Services created under clause 7;
government service (in a community) refers to any service or facility
provided by any level of government in the community to either Indigenous
persons or the whole population of the community;
head (of a service agency) means the Agency Head, or the person holding or
performing the duties of the principal office, or an individual, or chief
executive officer (however described);
Indigenous means a member of the Aboriginal race of Australia or a
descendant of the Indigenous inhabitants of the Torres Strait Islands;
Indigenous Affairs Minister, of a State or Territory, means the Minister of
the State or Territory who is responsible for the administration of matters
relating to Indigenous affairs.
Local Implementation Plans has the meaning given by the National
Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery;
member of the Coordinator-General's staff means APS employees provided by
arrangement with the Secretary of the Department;
National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery means the
National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery that took effect
on 27 January 2009;
non-Indigenous community means a community of which no significant
proportion is Indigenous;
remote location means a Remote Indigenous Location (within the meaning
given by the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery);
service agency means a department, agency or authority of the Commonwealth,
State or Territory;
specified remote community means a community in a remote location specified
under clause 5.
State or Territory Coordinator-General has the meaning given by subclause
9A(3).
Clause 5 - Specified remote community
This clause enables the Minister to specify a community in a remote
location in relation to which the Coordinator-General's functions and
powers operate.
Under subclause (2), the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, specify a
remote location if that location is categorised as Remote or Very Remote
Australia (which is based on the definition of Remote Indigenous Location
in the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Service Delivery) and a
significant proportion of the population is Indigenous.
Subclause (2A) provides for consultation with a State or Territory
government before the Minister specifies a remote location in the
particular State or Territory for the purposes of bringing that community
within the purview of the Coordinator-General.
Subclause (3) has been added to assist readers as such instruments are not
legislative instruments as described in section 5 of the Legislative
Instruments Act 2003.
Clause 6 - Act binds Crown
This clause provides that the Act binds the Crown, but does not make the
Crown liable to prosecution for an offence.
PART 2 - ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF COORDINATOR-GENERAL FOR REMOTE
INDIGENOUS SERVICES
Division 1 - Establishment of Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous
Services
Clause 7 - Coordinator-General for Remote Indigenous Services
This clause provides for the statutory position of Coordinator-General for
Remote Indigenous Services.
Division 2 - Functions and general powers of Coordinator-General
Clause 8 - Functions of Coordinator-General
This clause specifies the functions of the Coordinator-General.
The clause provides that the Coordinator-General will monitor, assess,
advise in relation to, and drive:
a) the development and delivery of government services in specified
remote communities to a standard broadly comparable with that in non-
Indigenous communities of similar size, location and need elsewhere in
Australia; and
b) progress towards achieving the Closing the Gap targets in the
specified remote communities.
Clause 9 - Powers of Coordinator-General
This clause provides the Coordinator-General with the power to do
everything necessary or convenient in order to perform the functions of the
office.
Without limitation, this includes the power to:
. request the production of information and documents (clause 10);
. request the attendance of persons at meetings;
. request assistance from service agencies; and
. report failures to comply with requests, including to the Minister
(clause 16).
Clause 9A - Requests to be made through State and Territory Coordinators-
General
Subclause 9A(1) provides that the Coordinator-General, when making requests
to staff of a service agency, may do so only by requesting that the
relevant State or Territory Coordinator-General give the original request
to those staff, and then the State or Territory Coordinator-General giving
the request to those staff.
Subclause 9A(2) provides that the Coordinator-General may request that the
head of a service agency give the original request to the staff of the
service agency, where the Coordinator-General is not satisfied that the
State or Territory Coordinator-General has complied with the request under
paragraph 9A(1)(a). The head of the service agency would then give the
request to the staff of the service agency.
Subclause 9A(3) provides that the State or Territory Coordinator-General is
the person (if any) nominated by the Minister of the State or Territory
responsible for Indigenous affairs.
Division 3 - Monitoring
Clause 10 - Coordinator-General may request persons to provide information
and documents etc.
This clause gives the Coordinator-General the power to request a person to
give specified information, produce specified documents or attend before
the Coordinator-General to answer questions at a specified place or time.
The request must be complied with within the period specified by the
Coordinator-General.
Subclause (2) provides limited protection to persons providing information
to the Coordinator-General. Paragraph (2)(a) protects a person who, in
good faith, complies with a request, from proceedings for contravening any
other law so that, for example, documents which might otherwise be
prevented from being disclosed by another law will be made available to the
Coordinator-General.
Paragraph (2)(b) provides that civil proceedings cannot be brought against
a person who, in good faith, complied with a request under subclause (1),
which may have caused another person loss, damage or injury.
Clause 11 - No loss of legal professional privilege
This clause provides that legal professional privilege in a piece of
information or a document is not waived or lost simply by the act of
disclosure in response to a request made under clause 10 by the Coordinator-
General. The disclosure could be by a document or by a response to a
question from the Coordinator-General.
Clause 12 - Coordinator-General may make and keep copies of documents
The Coordinator-General may make and keep copies of documents produced in
response to requests under clause 10.
Clause 13 - Limitation of powers under this Division
This clause recognises the constitutional limitations of the Coordinator-
General's functions and powers, particularly in relation to the States.
The Coordinator-General must not perform functions or exercise powers in a
manner that would impair the capacity of a State to exercise its
constitutional powers.
Division 4 - Local Implementation Plans
Clause 14 - Local Implementation Plans
Local Implementation Plans are defined in clause 4 to assist readers.
Subclause (1) provides that the Coordinator-General may comment on draft
Local Implementation Plans as they are developed in relation to the
specified remote communities.
Subclause (2) provides that the Coordinator-General must monitor the
implementation of each Local Implementation Plan. This will enable the
Coordinator-General to ascertain if services are being delivered in an
effective and timely manner.
Division 5 - Reporting
Clause 15 - Regular reports on government services in specified remote
localities
Clause 15 provides that the Coordinator-General must provide reports to the
Minister twice each year (or as otherwise required by the Minister).
Each report must contain information on the progress of the delivery of
government services in each of the specified remote communities, including
comment on the improvements to the coordination of the development and
delivery of services, and reforms to the development and delivery of such
services.
Progress that has been made towards achieving the Closing the Gap targets
in the specified remote localities must also be reported on.
Clause 16 - Reports on failures to comply with requests
Subclause 16(1) provides that this clause applies if the Coordinator-
General makes a request for attendance at a meeting; the provision of
information and documents; the assistance of a service agency; the
assistance of a State or Territory Coordinator-General; the assistance of
the head of a State or Territory service agency; or the cooperation of an
Agency Head or APS employee and there is a failure to comply with that
request.
Subclause 16(2) provides that the Coordinator-General may discuss such a
failure to comply with persons the Coordinator-General considers
appropriate.
Subclause 16(3) provides that the Coordinator-General may report
discussions to the head of the relevant service agency if there is no
satisfactory result to discussions under subclause 16(2).
Subclause 16(4) provides that the Coordinator-General may report
unsatisfactory responses from the heads of service agencies to the
Minister. If the Coordinator-General considers it necessary, he or she may
report unsatisfactory responses from the heads of service agencies to the
Prime Minister.
Clause 17 - Other reports
Clause 17 provides that the Coordinator-General may make other reports to
the Minister as required.
Clause 18 - Criticism of service agencies
Clause 18 provides that, if the Coordinator-General proposes to include
material in a report under this division that is critical of a service
agency, or part of that agency, then the Coordinator-General must consult
with the head of that service agency.
It is intended that the head of a service agency will have the opportunity
to respond to material in a report that is critical of that agency.
Nevertheless, consistent with the purposes for the creation of the position
of Coordinator-General, the processes have not been specified in detail so
that maximum flexibility is available to the Coordinator-General to achieve
results.
PART 3 - ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS ABOUT COORDINATOR-GENERAL
Clause 19 - Appointment
This clause provides for the appointment of the Coordinator-General as a
full-time statutory office-holder by the Governor-General for a fixed term
specified in the instrument of appointment and not exceeding five years.
Subclause (4) allows the Governor-General to determine terms and conditions
(if any) on which the Coordinator-General will hold office, but only in
relation to matters not covered by this Bill. This subclause should be
read in conjunction with clause 22, which allows the Minister to determine
some terms and conditions.
Clause 20 - Acting appointments
This clause deals with arrangements for acting appointments, including
allowing the Minister to appoint a person to act as the Coordinator-General
when the office is vacant. This provision is to be read in conjunction
with subclause 19(2), which requires that, whenever a vacancy occurs in the
office of Coordinator-General, a permanent appointment must be made as soon
as practicable.
Clause 21 - Remuneration
The remuneration for the Coordinator-General is to be determined by the
Remuneration Tribunal, with provision for remuneration to be prescribed by
the regulations in the absence of such determination. Allowances may also
be prescribed by the regulations.
Clause 22 - Leave of absence
The Coordinator-General's recreation leave entitlements are to be
determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. The Minister may grant the
Coordinator-General other leave on terms and conditions determined by the
Minister.
Clause 23 - Engaging in other paid work
The Coordinator-General cannot engage in other paid employment without the
Minister's approval.
Clause 24 - Disclosure of interests to the Minister
The Coordinator-General must notify the Minister in writing of any
potential conflicts of interest. Failure to provide such notification,
without reasonable excuse, is a ground for dismissal of the Coordinator-
General by the Governor-General pursuant to clause 26.
Clause 25 - Resignation
The Coordinator-General may resign by giving written notice to the Governor-
General. The resignation takes effect on the day it is received by the
Governor-General, or if a later day is specified in the resignation, on
that later day.
Clause 26 - Termination of appointment
Clause 26 provides that the Governor-General must terminate the appointment
of the Coordinator-General on the grounds specified. The Governor-General
has the discretion to dismiss the Coordinator-General for misbehaviour or
physical or mental incapacity or if the performance of the Coordinator-
General has been unsatisfactory. The Governor-General must dismiss the
Coordinator-General in situations such as bankruptcy, unauthorised absence
from office, engaging in unauthorised paid employment outside the office of
Coordinator-General (in breach of clause 23) and/or failing to disclose
conflicts of interest (in breach of clause 24).
Subclauses (3) and (4) clarify the effect of the Coordinator-General being
dismissed from office on the grounds of physical or mental incapacity for
the operation of Commonwealth superannuation schemes of which the
Coordinator-General may be a member without a certificate being given by
the relevant Board. These are the usual provisions applied to statutory
office holders.
Clause 27 - Coordinator-General's staff
Clause 27 provides that the Coordinator-General may arrange with the
Secretary of the Department for APS employees in the Department to be made
available to the Coordinator-General.
PART 4 - OTHER MATTERS
Clause 28 - Annual reports
Clause 28 provides for the Coordinator-General to prepare an annual report
on the operations of the office of the Coordinator-General, and requires
the Minister to table the report in each House of Parliament within 15
sitting days of receiving the report.
Clause 29 - Delegation of certain powers by Coordinator-General
Clause 29 provides that the Coordinator-General may delegate powers granted
under this Act to a staff member with the exception of the power to make
arrangements with the Secretary to make staff available.
Clause 30 - Regulations
Clause 30 provides for the Governor-General to make regulations covering
matters required or permitted to be prescribed in the Act, or matters that
would be necessary or convenient to prescribe for the purposes of the Act.
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