Second Reading Speech
Mr Entsch (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Science and Resources)I move:
That the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of the Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Bill 2001 is to make consequential amendments to certain offence provisions in portfolio legislation to reflect the application of the Criminal Code Act 1995. The code contains a standard approach to the formulation of criminal offences. When it commences on 15 December 2001, the code will alter the way in which the criminal offence provisions are interpreted, including offences contained in Family and Community Services portfolio legislation. The amendments made by this bill harmonise relevant offences with the code while also ensuring that the relevant offences continue to have the same meaning in operation as they do at present. This bill is one of a series designed to apply the code on a portfolio by portfolio basis. I present the explanatory memorandum to the bill.