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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Multicultural Recognition Bill
2011
Queensland
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Contents
Page
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3 Act binds all persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4 Purposes of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6 Application of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Part 2 Multicultural Queensland Charter
7 The Multicultural Queensland Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Part 3 Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council
8 Establishment of Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council . . . 7
9 Functions of the council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
10 Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
11 Term of appointment as member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
12 Chairperson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
13 Vacation of office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
14 General procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
15 Minutes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Part 4 Responsibilities of the Minister and departments
16 Minister must develop multicultural action plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
17 Timing of plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
18 Report on multicultural action plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
19 Chief executives to ensure awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
20 Departments to consider charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
21 Departments' reporting obligations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
22 Action plans for departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Contents
Part 5 Miscellaneous
23 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Part 6 Amendment of this Act
24 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
25 Amendment of s 5 (Definitions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Schedule The Multicultural Queensland Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Page 2
2011
A Bill
for
An Act to provide for a Multicultural Queensland Charter, a
Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council and a multicultural
action plan and for related purposes
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Part 1 Preliminary 2
1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Multicultural Recognition Act 4
2011. 5
2 Commencement 6
Part 6 commences on the later of the following-- 7
(a) the day this Act is assented to; 8
(b) immediately after the Health and Hospitals Network Act 9
2011, section 283 commences. 10
3 Act binds all persons 11
This Act binds all persons, including the State. 12
4 Purposes of Act 13
The purposes of this Act are-- 14
(a) to recognise the valuable contribution of diverse groups 15
of people to the Queensland community; and 16
(b) to promote Queensland as a united, harmonious and 17
inclusive community by establishing the charter; and 18
(c) to ensure government services are responsive to the 19
diversity of the people of Queensland by-- 20
(i) establishing the council; and 21
(ii) providing for the multicultural action plan; and 22
Page 4
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 5]
(iii) requiring that employees of departments be made 1
aware of the charter and the multicultural policy; 2
and 3
(iv) establishing reporting obligations for departments. 4
5 Definitions 5
In this Act-- 6
charter means the Multicultural Queensland Charter set out in 7
the schedule. 8
council see section 8. 9
diversity means cultural, linguistic and religious diversity. 10
employees means-- 11
(a) public service employees; and 12
(b) employees appointed under the Ambulance Service Act 13
1991, section 13; and 14
(c) employees appointed under the Fire and Rescue Service 15
Act 1990, section 25; and 16
(d) persons employed under the Health Services Act 1991. 17
multicultural action plan see section 16. 18
multicultural policy means-- 19
(a) the document, published by the department, entitled 20
`Queensland multicultural policy 2011--A multicultural 21
future for all of us'; or 22
Editor's note-- 23
This document is available on the department's website at 24
. 25
(b) another policy about multiculturalism in Queensland 26
approved by the Minister for this Act and published by 27
the department. 28
Page 5
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 2 Multicultural Queensland Charter
[s 6]
6 Application of Act 1
(1) This Act does not-- 2
(a) create rights for anyone; or 3
(b) impose legally enforceable obligations on the State, the 4
Minister, a department, a chief executive, a member of 5
the council, a public service employee or anyone else. 6
(2) No provision of this Act creates a civil cause of action based 7
on a contravention of the provision. 8
(3) Failure to comply with this Act does not affect the validity of 9
any decision. 10
(4) If there is a conflict between this Act and another Act that 11
requires an entity to consider principles or comply with 12
requirements in the exercise of the entity's functions or 13
powers, the other Act prevails to the extent of the 14
inconsistency. 15
Part 2 Multicultural Queensland 16
Charter 17
7 The Multicultural Queensland Charter 18
The Multicultural Queensland Charter is set out in the 19
schedule. 20
Page 6
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 3 Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council
[s 8]
Part 3 Multicultural Queensland 1
Advisory Council 2
8 Establishment of Multicultural Queensland Advisory 3
Council 4
The Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council (the council) 5
is established. 6
9 Functions of the council 7
(1) The functions of the council are to give advice and make 8
recommendations to the Minister about the following-- 9
(a) encouraging awareness of the charter within the 10
Queensland community; 11
(b) developing and implementing government policies 12
about multiculturalism; 13
(c) how services and programs funded by the Government 14
can accommodate the needs of people from diverse 15
backgrounds; 16
(d) the needs, aspirations and contributions of people from 17
diverse backgrounds. 18
(2) The council may also perform other functions as directed by 19
the Minister. 20
10 Appointment 21
(1) The council consists of the Minister and 11 members 22
appointed by signed notice by the Minister. 23
(2) When appointing members of the council, the Minister must 24
take into account the need for the council to be representative 25
of the diverse groups of people in the Queensland community 26
including people from regional locations. 27
Page 7
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 3 Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council
[s 11]
11 Term of appointment as member 1
(1) A member is to be appointed for the term, of no more than 3 2
years, stated in the member's notice of appointment. 3
(2) If a member is reappointed, the total of the member's terms of 4
appointment may not be more than 6 years. 5
12 Chairperson 6
(1) The chairperson of the council is the Minister. 7
(2) The Minister may appoint the Parliamentary Secretary 8
responsible for multicultural affairs to act as the chairperson 9
for any time when the Minister can not perform the functions 10
of the office. 11
(3) If the Parliamentary Secretary can not perform the functions 12
of the office of chairperson under subsection (2), the Minister 13
may appoint a designated person to act as the chairperson for 14
any time when the Minister can not perform the functions of 15
the office. 16
(4) In this section-- 17
appropriately qualified includes having the qualifications, 18
experience or standing appropriate to perform the functions of 19
the office of chairperson. 20
Example of standing for a public service employee-- 21
the employee's classification or level in a department 22
designated person means-- 23
(a) a member of the council; or 24
(b) a member of the Legislative Assembly; or 25
(c) an appropriately qualified public service employee. 26
functions includes powers. 27
13 Vacation of office 28
(1) A member's office becomes vacant if-- 29
Page 8
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 3 Multicultural Queensland Advisory Council
[s 14]
(a) the member dies; or 1
(b) the member resigns by signed notice of resignation 2
given to the Minister; or 3
(c) the member's appointment is ended by the Minister. 4
(2) The Minister may end a member's appointment by written 5
notice given to the member if-- 6
(a) in the opinion of the Minister, the member is unable, 7
because of illness or absence from the State, to perform 8
the functions of the office; or 9
(b) in the opinion of the Minister, the member commits 10
misconduct of a kind that could justify dismissal from 11
the public service if the member were a public service 12
employee; or 13
(c) the member is an insolvent under administration within 14
the meaning of the Corporations Act, section 9; or 15
(d) the member is absent from 3 consecutive meetings of 16
the council without the council's permission and 17
without reasonable excuse; or 18
(e) in the opinion of the Minister, the member is performing 19
the member's duties carelessly, incompetently or 20
inefficiently. 21
14 General procedure 22
(1) Council meetings are to be held at the times and places the 23
council decides. 24
(2) However, the council must meet at least twice a year. 25
(3) The chairperson may call a council meeting at any time. 26
(4) The chairperson is to preside at all council meetings at which 27
the chairperson is present. 28
(5) If the chairperson is absent, a member chosen by the members 29
present is to preside. 30
(6) The council may conduct its meetings as it considers 31
appropriate. 32
Page 9
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 4 Responsibilities of the Minister and departments
[s 15]
15 Minutes 1
The council must keep a record of the minutes of its meetings 2
and its decisions. 3
Part 4 Responsibilities of the Minister 4
and departments 5
16 Minister must develop multicultural action plan 6
(1) The Minister must develop a plan to implement the principles 7
of the charter and the priorities of the multicultural policy 8
(multicultural action plan). 9
(2) The purposes of the multicultural action plan are to-- 10
(a) provide a coordinated whole-of-government approach to 11
developing policies and providing services to people 12
from diverse backgrounds; and 13
(b) ensure each department considers the principles of the 14
charter and the priorities of the multicultural policy 15
when developing policies or providing services. 16
(3) The Minister may determine a set of core outcomes for all 17
departments to achieve as part of the multicultural action plan. 18
17 Timing of plans 19
(1) The Minister must develop and commence the first 20
multicultural action plan under this Act by 1 July 2014. 21
(2) The Minister must develop and commence a further plan at 22
least once every 3 years. 23
18 Report on multicultural action plan 24
The Minister must, as soon as practicable after 3 years has 25
passed from the commencement of each multicultural action 26
Page 10
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 4 Responsibilities of the Minister and departments
[s 19]
plan, table a report in the Legislative Assembly about the 1
implementation of the multicultural action plan. 2
19 Chief executives to ensure awareness 3
The chief executive of a department must ensure employees of 4
the department have an awareness of the charter and the 5
multicultural policy. 6
20 Departments to consider charter 7
The employees of a department must consider the charter 8
when developing policies or providing services of the 9
department. 10
21 Departments' reporting obligations 11
(1) Each annual report of a department must include a report 12
stating the department's progress in implementing the 13
multicultural action plan for the year to which the report 14
relates. 15
(2) In this section-- 16
annual report see the Financial Accountability Act 2009, 17
schedule 3. 18
22 Action plans for departments 19
(1) A department may develop its own action plan to implement 20
the multicultural action plan. 21
(2) The department's action plan may identify-- 22
(a) how the department will implement key priorities in the 23
multicultural action plan that are the responsibility of 24
that department; and 25
(b) how the department plans to achieve the core set of 26
outcomes mentioned in the multicultural action plan. 27
Page 11
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Part 5 Miscellaneous
[s 23]
Part 5 Miscellaneous 1
23 Regulation-making power 2
The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 3
Act. 4
Part 6 Amendment of this Act 5
24 Act amended 6
This part amends this Act. 7
25 Amendment of s 5 (Definitions) 8
Section 5, definition employees, paragraph (d)-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`(d) persons employed under the Health and Hospitals 11
Network Act 2011.'. 12
Page 12
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Schedule
Schedule The Multicultural Queensland 1
Charter 2
section 7 3
Because-- 4
the Parliament recognises that our cultural heritage forms an 5
integral part of Queensland's identity and that diversity 6
deepens and enriches our community and provides an 7
invaluable asset for Queensland's future; 8
this Act establishes the following Multicultural 9
Queensland Charter-- 10
1 A shared commitment to-- 11
(a) Queensland and Australia; and 12
(b) a free and democratic society governed by the rule 13
of law; 14
fosters a strong and unified community. 15
2 The people of Queensland come from many diverse 16
backgrounds and have worked, and continue to work, 17
together to build a prosperous, fair and harmonious 18
Queensland. 19
3 The people of Queensland should be able to express, in 20
a lawful way, their diverse backgrounds. 21
4 All people of Queensland should receive equal rights 22
and responsibilities under the law. 23
5 There should be mutual respect and fair treatment 24
among members of the Queensland community. 25
6 There should be equitable access to the services 26
provided or funded by the Government and any 27
impediments to this access should be removed. 28
7 Opportunities should be created that encourage the full 29
participation of people from diverse backgrounds in the 30
Page 13
Multicultural Recognition Bill 2011
Schedule
cultural, economic, political and social life of 1
Queensland. 2
© State of Queensland 2011
Page 14
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