Explanatory Memorandum
Circulated By Authority of The Minister For Home Affairs, The Honourable Bob Debus MpNOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 : Short Title
This clause provides that when the Bill is enacted, it is to be cited as the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Act 2008 .
Clause 2 : Commencement
This clause sets out when the various parts of the Bill are to commence.
Clauses 1 to 3 commence on the day the Bill receives Royal Assent.
Item 1 of Schedule 1 commences immediately after the commencement of item 4 of Schedule 1 to the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner (Consequential Amendments) Act 2006 . This is a retrospective commencement as the penalty provision formerly in subsection 60A(2) of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979 was inadvertently repealed by the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner (Consequential Amendments) Act 2006 . Although such retrospectivity is unusual, the secrecy offence has been in force since it was first enacted and there is no legitimate excuse for conduct that breaches this provision. It is better not to leave a gap in the capacity to prosecute breaches of the offence.
Item 2 of Schedule 1 (which deals with the deferral of the DNA review) commences on the day the Bill receives Royal Assent.
Items 3 and 4 of Schedule 1 (which deal with amendments to the Crimes (Aviation) Act) commence the day after the Bill receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3 : Schedule(s )
This is a formal clause that enables the Schedules to amend Acts simply by including amendments under the title of the relevant Act.