Page 3948 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011

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will not affect the tax liability of those placed under the new notification obligations and will make the administration of the land tax scheme easier for the commission, reducing the dead weight of taxation in a manner that does not unreasonably burden the taxpayer. The bill creates the same obligation for trustees as for owners whose properties are rented, and the Greens agree that this obligation should be extended to trustees.

MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (4.43): I thank both the opposition and the Greens for their support. I hope that all Treasury bills are dealt with this efficiently, although that might be a little optimistic. But I thank members for their support.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.

Bill agreed to.

ACT Teacher Quality Institute Amendment Bill 2011

Debate resumed from 30 June 2011 on motion by Mr Barr:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (4.44): Just as the Canberra Liberals supported the passage of the ACT Teacher Quality Institute Act in December last year, so too will we be supporting the amendment bill before us, which sets out to correct some drafting issues. The principle of the institute—to ensure standards of teachers in ACT schools, whether public, Catholic or independent, are upheld—is one that all of us in this Assembly would strongly support. The key initial function of the institute is to register all teachers working or seeking to work in ACT schools.

The establishment of the institute was perhaps a little slower than we might have first hoped or assumed, and the registration process certainly had some hiccups. I know, for example, that some schools had difficulty accessing the online registration. In response to a question I raised during estimates, I was advised that all teachers would complete the online application and verification by the end of term 3 this year, and I certainly have not heard of any additional delays to those experienced by some teachers around May of this year.

This amendment bill will make sure that teachers seeking registration can comply with the Spent Convictions Act 2000, which requires spent convictions to be included in the assessment process leading to the issue of a police certificate or criminal history check. The bill closes a loophole where those applying for teacher positions do not have to declare their criminal history under the operation of the Spent Convictions Act. The Spent Convictions Act allows people with criminal history more than 10 years old not to declare their criminal record, and it cannot be taken into consideration by a


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