Independent Commission Against
Corruption Amendment (Ethics
Committee) Bill 2003

Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.

Overview of Bill

Part 7A of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (the ICAC
Act) establishes a statutory committee called the Standing Ethics Committee:

(a) to prepare and review codes of conduct for members of the Legislative
Assembly, and

(b) to carry out educative and advisory work on ethical standards applying to
members of the Legislative Assembly.

Part 7A of the ICAC Act requires the Legislative Council to designate one of its
existing committees to carry out equivalent functions in relation to members of
the Legislative Council. The Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege
and Ethics has been designated for this purpose.

The objects of this Bill are:

(a) to replace the statutory Standing Ethics Committee, providing instead for
the Legislative Assembly to designate a committee to carry out the
functions concerned, in line with the provisions applying to the
Legislative Council, and

(b) to require the designated committees to review the codes of conduct
applying to members of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative
Council, respectively, on a 4-yearly basis, rather than the current 2-yearly
basis.

Outline of provisions

Clause 1 sets out the name (also called the short title) of the proposed Act.

Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on a day or days
to be appointed by proclamation.

Clause 3 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendments to the
Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 Amendments
Schedule 1 [1] and [7] replace the requirement for the codes of conduct
applying to members of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly,
respectively, to be reviewed at least once in each period of 2 years, with a
requirement that they be reviewed at least once every 4 years.

Schedule 1 [2] provides for the Legislative Assembly to designate one of its
committees to carry out functions relating to the code of conduct and ethical
standards applying to members of the Legislative Assembly, in place of the
existing Standing Ethics Committee. Schedule 1 [3], [5], [6] and [8] make
consequential amendments.

Schedule 1 [4] enables the committee designated by the Legislative Assembly
to appoint any member of the public for the purpose of assisting the committee
to carry out any of its functions in relation to the Legislative Assembly’s code of
conduct, including the review of the code of conduct.

Schedule 1 [9] enables the making of regulations of a savings and transitional
nature as a consequence of the enactment of the proposed Act.

Note: If this Bill is not modified, these Explanatory Notes would reflect the Bill as passed in the House. If the Bill has been amended by Committee, these Explanatory Notes may not necessarily reflect the Bill as passed.

 

---

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]