Special Commission of Inquiry (James
Hardie Records) Amendment Bill 2004

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

Overview of Bill

The Special Commission of Inquiry (James Hardie Records) Act 2004 (the Principal
Act) provides for the transfer of records of the Special Commission of Inquiry into
the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (the Special Commission) to
the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and enables ASIC to
give possession or custody of any such record to any other person (whether within or
outside New South Wales) for any purpose it considers appropriate. Section 7 of the
Act prevents a person from objecting to the use of a transferred record by ASIC, or
to the disclosure of any matter contained in a transferred record, on certain grounds
of privilege. Section 8 makes it clear that a transferred record is to be treated for the
purposes of a law of the State as if it were a record that ASIC had lawfully obtained
in the performance of its functions or the exercise of its powers under
Commonwealth law and that, accordingly, if a record would be admissible in a court
under Commonwealth law it will be treated as being admissible in a NSW court.

The Special Commission reported on 21 September 2004 and found potential
contraventions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 of the Commonwealth that the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the ACCC) might wish to
investigate.

The object of this Bill is to amend the Principal Act to make it clear that section 7 of
the Principal Act prevents a person from objecting to the use of a transferred record
by the ACCC or any other person to which ASIC has given possession or custody of
the record, or to the disclosure of any matter contained in such a transferred record,
on those grounds of privilege.

The Bill also amends section 8 of the Principal Act to make it clear that such a
transferred record is to be treated for the purposes of a law of the State as if it were a
record that the ACCC or other person had lawfully obtained in the performance of its
functions or the exercise of its powers under any law and that, accordingly, if a record
would be admissible in a court under that law it will be treated as being admissible
in a NSW court.

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 the date of assent
to the Act.

Clause 3 is a formal provision that gives effect to the amendments to the Special
Commission of Inquiry (James Hardie Records) Act 2004 set out in Schedule 1.

Schedule 1 Amendments
Schedule 1 amends the Principal Act as described in the Overview above.

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.

 

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