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FIRE BRIGADES (AMENDMENT) BILL 1993
NEW SOUTH WALES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This Explanatory Note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament)
This Bill is cognate with the Bush Fires (Amendment) Bill 1993.
The object of this Bill is to amend the Fire Brigades Act 1989 to require insurance
companies to submit their premium income returns under that Act in September each
year in conformity with the scheme under the Bush Fires Act 1949.
Clause 1 specifies the short title of the proposed Act.
Clause 2 provides for the proposed Act to commence on assent.
Clause 3 gives effect to the amendments to the Fire Brigades Act 1989 set out in
Schedule 1.
Schedule 1 contains the following amendments to the Fire Brigades Act 1989:
Returns by insurance companies (and by certain owners of property insuring with
foreign insurers)
At present under section 58 of the Fire Brigades Act 1989, insurance companies are
required, during March in each year, to submit returns to the Director-General of the
Department of NSW Fire Brigades. These returns show the total amount of certain
premiums received by (or due to) insurance companies for the previous calendar year.
They are used to assess and determine the contributions by insurance companies (for the
previous calendar year) towards fire brigade expenditure .and to determine the advance
payments for the following calendar year. Under the Bush Fires Act 1949 however,
insurance companies are required to submit their premium returns in September each
year for the ,previous financial year.
Schedule 1 (4) amends section 58 to provide that returns are to be submitted by
insurance companies in September each year showing the premiums for the previous
financial year. As a consequence of changing the basis on which premium returns are
made from a calendar year to a financial year basis, Schedule 1 (2) and (3) provide for
the determination of advance payments and the assessment and adjustment of
contributions by insurance companies to be brought forward in respect of the calendar
year in which the relevant return is submitted. Schedule 1 (6) is a consequential
amendment to section 61 (Returns by owners of property).
Schedule 1 (1) substitutes the definition of "policy of insurance" in section 3 to
exclude policies of reinsurance. This will mean that re-insurers will only be required to
send insurance returns (but not reinsurance returns) to the Director-General. Schedule 1
(5) amends the definition of "total amount of premiums" in section 59 to ensure that an
insurance company will not be able to deduct bonuses or return premiums paid by way
of reinsurance from the total amount of premiums that it is required to show to the
Director-General in its return.
Schedule 1 (7) inserts proposed section 61A to provide, as a result of the
amendments to be made by the proposed Act, for a special return by insurance
companies (and by owners of property insuring with foreign insurers) for the 6 months
ending 30 June 1993. This transitional provision is intended to deal with the changeover
from calendar year to financial year returns. Schedule 1 (8) allows regulations of a
savings or transitional nature to be made as a consequence of the enactment of the
proposed Act.