House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

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

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Statute Update Bill 2016

This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Bill

The main purpose of this Bill is to update provisions in Acts to take account of changes to drafting precedents and practice.

In particular, the items of the Bill:

(a)

update references to penalties expressed as a number of dollars with penalties expressed as a number of penalty units; and

(b)

replace references to "maximum penalty" with "penalty" (section 4D of the Crimes Act 1914 already provides that a penalty set out for an offence is a maximum); and

(c)

amend provisions that deal with the evidentiary status of a certificate or other instrument, or of a register, to provide that it is prima facie evidence of the matters stated in it; and

(d)

update references to aircraft registered in accordance with the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988.

The amendments in this Bill will ensure that older provisions on the Commonwealth statute book continue to be expressed in ways that are consistent with the overall legal context in which they operate and reflect changes to the law. The amendments also enhance readability, facilitate interpretation and administration, and promote consistency across the Commonwealth statute book.

Human rights implications

This Bill does not engage any human rights issues as it makes minor technical corrections and technical improvements to legislation. It makes either no change or only minor changes to the substance of the law.

Conclusion

This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, as it does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms or alter any human rights safeguards currently in place.