Page 520 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 June 1989

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That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

The office of the Public Trustee was established by the Public Trustee Act 1985 to take over functions formerly exercised by the Curator of Estates of Deceased Persons. The curator generally administered the estate of persons in the lower income brackets.

In a recent case the ACT Supreme Court raised doubts about its ability to grant probate to the Public Trustee of a will made by a person where the Curator of Estates of Deceased Persons was named as executor and the person died after the commencement date of the Act. To put this matter beyond doubt, this Bill amends section 22 of the Public Trustee (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1985 to provide specifically that a will which has been executed before the commencement date of that Act and which names the curator as executor has effect after that date as if the Public Trustee were named as executor of the will. I now present the explanatory memorandum for the Bill.

Debate (on motion by Mr Stefaniak) adjourned.

FILM CLASSIFICATION (AMENDMENT)
BILL 1989

MS FOLLETT (Attorney-General) (10.35): Mr Speaker, I present the Film Classification (Amendment) Bill 1989. I move:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

The Commonwealth and the ACT share responsibilities under the Film Classification Act 1971. Classification of cinema films for display in the ACT is a Commonwealth responsibility. The ACT Government is responsible for the law in the ACT relating to the distribution and exhibition of films. The markings to be shown on cinema films and advertising symbols relating to cinema films are specified in section 9 of the Film Classification Act 1971.

At its meeting on 2 March 1989 the Standing Committee of Censorship Ministers agreed that State and Territory cinema legislation should contain uniform requirements relating to advertising material. It also agreed what those requirements should be.

The effect of the proposed amendments is that the Commonwealth Chief Censor will set, by determination, the requirements for markings on films and film advertising in the ACT in place of the present system where these requirements are stated in the legislation. The Chief Censor is the appropriate person to make this determination in view of the Commonwealth responsibility for classification. The State and Northern Territory Ministers have agreed to make similar amendments to their


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