Page 2224 - Week 07 - Thursday, 23 June 2005

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The second group of amendments relates to the modifications made last year to the Health Professionals Act 2004, which were designed to bring within its scope health professionals who had been registered under an act repealed by the Health Professionals Act 2004 but whose registration was not current at the date of commencement of the Health Professionals Act 2004. The purpose of these modifications is to allow actions to be taken to the Health Professionals Tribunal in regard to the conduct of a health professional when he or she was registered under the repealed act—so, simply allowing disciplinary measures and scrutiny measures to be undertaken regardless of when they were registered.

I should add that this amendment will allow the health professional boards to bring an application to the Health Professionals Tribunal seeking a declaration of unsuitability to practise in respect of a health professional who is not registered but was registered under a repealed act when the alleged misconduct occurred. Those are the two substantive changes proposed by the amendments. I think, as members will see, they are straightforward and administrative in nature. They simply allow for the better conduct of our Health Professionals Tribunal and also they relate to minor drafting changes in allowing the bill to be more user friendly and clearer in its meaning.

I thank members for their support and commend the bill to the Assembly.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Detail Stage

Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.

MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Minister for Health and Minister for Planning) (11.20): I seek leave to move amendments Nos 1 to 17 circulated in my name together.

Leave granted.

MR CORBELL: I move amendments Nos 1 to 17 circulated in my name and table a supplementary explanatory statement for those amendments. [see schedule 1 at page 2281].

Mr Speaker, I outlined in my closing speech during the in principal stage the nature and extent of these amendments and I refer members to those comments.

MR SMYTH (Brindabella—Leader of the Opposition) (11.21): Mr Speaker, I might just make the comment again that at about 10.35 the minister tabled 14 pages of amendments. We are now into the detail stage and the minister has tabled an explanatory statement. I am sure it would have been of great use to members if they could have received, looked at and had a discussion about this before we reached the detail stage.

I note that a copy of one of the minister’s health legislation amendments that was tabled only this morning is dated 3.27, 20 June 2005. So the minister had the amendments for three days. If they are non-controversial—which they seem to be—and they are just


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