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Parliamentary update: 23-25 March 2021

Bills introduced

Debt Reduction and Savings Bill 2021

The Debt Reduction and Savings Bill 2021 was introduced by Cameron Dick MP, Treasurer and Minister for Investment, on 25 March 2021.

The Bill has been referred to the parliamentary Economics and Governance Committee.

The Bill seeks to amend the:

  • Acts Interpretation Act 1954
  • Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980
  • City of Brisbane Regulation 2012
  • Financial Accountability Act 2009
  • Foreign Ownership of Land Register Act 1988
  • Forestry Act 1959
  • Land Act 1994
  • Land Title Act 1994
  • Local Government Regulation 2012
  • Medicines and Poisons Act 2019
  • National Injury Insurance Scheme (Queensland) Act 2016
  • Police Service Administration Act 1990
  • Property Law Act 1974
  • Queensland Competition Authority Act 1997
  • Queensland Industry Participation Policy Act 2011
  • South Bank Corporation Act 1989
  • Statutory Instruments Act 1992
  • Water Act 2000

together with other legislation mentioned in schedules 3, 4, 5 and 6.

The Bill seeks to repeal the:

  • Building Queensland Act 2015
  • Foreign Ownership of Land Register Regulation 2013
  • Land Title Regulation 2015
  • Public Safety Business Agency Act 2014
  • Queensland Productivity Commission Act 2015.

As outlined in the explanatory notes, the objectives of the Bill are to:

  • support the state’s contribution to the Queensland Future (Debt Retirement) Fund (Debt Retirement Fund) established under the Queensland Future Fund Act 2020
  • introduce a fee unit model to streamline the annual process of indexing regulatory fees
  • abolish Building Queensland (BQ) and the BQ board; and integrate BQ’s staff, assets, records, resources and liabilities into the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning
  • change the governance structure of the National Injury Insurance Agency, Queensland
  • repeal the Public Safety Business Agency Act 2014 so that machinery of government changes may reintegrate the Public Safety Business Agency into public safety entities
  • abolish the Queensland Productivity Commission and integrate its functions into Queensland Treasury and the Queensland Competition Authority
  • mandate that legislation which requires or authorises print advertising or publication by government agencies shall be satisfied by digital/electronic advertising or publication, subject to appropriate exemptions, and
  • make technical amendments to the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 to clarify head of power issues and improve the operation of proposed regulations.

Useful links:

Legislation passed

The following legislation was passed by the Legislative Assembly:

  • Criminal Code (Consent and Mistake of Fact) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
  • Child Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020.

Criminal Code (Consent and Mistake of Fact) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020

The Criminal Code (Consent and Mistake of Fact) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 was reintroduced into the Legislative Assembly on 26 November 2020 by Shannon Fentiman MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, and was passed with amendment on 25 March 2021.

The Bill amends the:

  • Co-operatives National Law Act 2020
  • Criminal Code 1899 (Criminal Code)
  • Gaming Machine Act 1991
  • Interactive Gambling (Player Protection) Act 1998
  • Legal Profession Act 2007
  • Liquor Act 1992
  • Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000
  • Racing Integrity Act 2016
  • Wagering Act 1998
  • legislation mentioned in schedule 1.

As outlined in the explanatory notes:

The Bill aims to implement the recommendations made by the Queensland Law Reform Commission in its report ‘Review of consent laws and the excuse of mistake of fact’. The amendments seek to codify existing case law into the Criminal Code itself by:

  • amending section 348 of the Criminal Code to include a subsection that expressly provides that a person is not taken to give consent to an act only because, at or before the time of the relevant act, the person does not say or do anything to communicate that they do not consent to that act
  • amending Chapter 32 of the Criminal Code to apply the definition of ‘consent’ in section 348 to the offences provided for under sections 351(1) (assault with intent to commit rape) and 352(1)(a) (sexual assault)
  • amending section 348 of the Criminal Code to include a new subsection to expressly provide that, if an act is done or continues after consent to the act is withdrawn by words or conduct, then the act is done or continues without consent
  • amending the Criminal Code to provide that, for offences in Chapter 32, in deciding under section 24 whether a defendant did an act under an honest and reasonable, but mistaken, belief that the complainant gave consent to the act, regard may be had to anything the defendant said or did to ascertain whether the other person was giving consent to the act
  • amending the Criminal Code to provide that, for offences in Chapter 32, in deciding under section 24 whether a defendant did an act under an honest and reasonable, but mistaken, belief that the complainant gave consent to the act, regard may not be had, in deciding whether a belief was reasonable, to the voluntary intoxication of the defendant by alcohol, a drug or another substance.

The Bill amends the Legal Profession Act 2007 with respect to Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Guarantee Fund by:

  • providing that the statutory caps are only to be applied to a claim where, despite measures QLS may take under section 368 (contribution to fidelity fund) and section 369 (levy for benefit of fidelity fund), QLS believes that payment of the claim in full is likely to result in the fund being insufficient to meet its ascertained and contingent liabilities, and
  • providing for QLS to make additional payments to claimants who were not paid in full due to the operation of the statutory caps.

The Bill amends the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence (TAFV) Policy to further the Government’s commitment to reduce the risk of harm from alcohol-fuelled violence. The amendments to the Liquor Act 1992, Gaming Machine Act 1991 and Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 are the second tranche of the Government’s legislative response to the final evaluation report of the TAFV policy. Notable amendments include:

  • amending the Liquor Act 1992 to provide greater rigour around ID scanning
  • amending the Liquor Act 1992 to require regular review of Safe Night Precincts
  • amending the Liquor Act 1992 to ensure that Queensland liquor accords and Safe Night Precinct local boards seeking to implement controls on the price and/or supply of liquor are not captured by the cartel provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)
  • amending the Liquor Act 1992 and Gaming Machine Act 1991 to require relevant information about decisions made for advertised applications to be published online if community comments or representations, submissions or objections were received
  • amending the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 to enhance the operation of police banning notices.

The Bill makes other, miscellaneous amendments to the Co-operatives National Law Act 2020, Interactive Gambling (Player Protection) Act 1998, the Wagering Act 1998 and the Racing Integrity Act 2016.

Useful links:

Child Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020

The Child Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 was introduced into the Legislative Assembly on 3 December 2020 by Leanne Linard MP, Minister for Children and Youth Justice and Minister for Multicultural Affairs, and was passed without amendment on 23 March 2021.

The Bill amends the:

  • Adoption Act 2009
  • Child Protection Act 1999

As outlined in the explanatory notes:

The Bill responds to recommendation 6(b) of Deputy State Coroner Bentley’s findings following the inquest into the death of 22-month-old Mason Jet Lee.

The objectives of the Bill are to:

  • enhance the approach to permanency under the Child Protection Act 1999
  • clarify that adoption is an option for achieving permanency for children in care, as part of the suite of alternative long-term care options available, and
  • clarify the importance of and promote alternative permanency options for children subject to a child protection order granting long-term guardianship to the chief executive.

The Bill also includes a technical amendment to the Adoption Act 2009 to allow the chief executive of the Department of Children, Youth justice and Multicultural Affairs to apply for final adoption orders for a small number of children from overseas.

Useful links:

Subordinate legislation

Subordinate Queensland legislation notified in 2021 is available online.

Subordinate legislation notified on the Queensland Legislation website from 13 March 2021 to 26 March 2021:

Queensland Government Gazette

The Queensland Government Gazettes for 2021 are available online.

Parliamentary sitting dates

As indicated on the parliamentary website, the Queensland Parliament is currently scheduled to next sit on 20 to 22 April 2021.

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