House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC)

Schedule 8 - Removal of redundant definitions

94 Most of the items in this Schedule remove definitions of acting SES employee, SES employee, APS employee, calendar month, calendar year, financial year and penalty unit from various Acts. Those definitions are redundant since section 2B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 has definitions of those expressions that apply across all Acts.

95 Item 23 repeals the definition of faxed copy in section 4 of the International Criminal Court Act 2002 as it is defined as meaning "a copy of a document obtained or sent by fax", which does not add to its dictionary and ordinary meanings.

96 Item 24 repeals the definition of fax in section 4 of the International War Crimes Tribunals Act 1995 as it is defined as meaning "a copy of a document obtained or sent by facsimile transmission", which does not add to its dictionary and ordinary meanings.

97 Item 30 repeals the definition of facsimile copy in subsection 3(1) of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 as that definition is not used elsewhere in that Act.

98 Item 31 repeals the definition of fax in subsection 3(1) of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987 as it is defined as meaning "facsimile transmission", which does not add to its dictionary and ordinary meanings.

99 Items 44 and 45 work together to remove a redundant definition of penalty unit from the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. Item 44 removes a signpost from subsection 3(1) of the Act, that directs readers to the definition located in section 42YB.