Page 2268 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 4 August 2015
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and is a statutory public charitable trust. The trust’s contribution to improving road safety in the ACT has been significant and highly valued by the ACT government and ACT community. However, with the entry of additional CTP insurers to the ACT market, it has been necessary for the government to consider the implications for the trust arrangement. While that arrangement was appropriate when NRMA Insurance was the ACT’s only CTP insurer, it is not consistent with encouraging competition or the principle of ensuring a level playing field for all insurers in the CTP market. Following discussions with insurers, the government decided that the trust should be ceased and new arrangements for funding road safety initiatives established in its place.
This bill repeals the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust Act 1992. It is a necessary step to enable the trust to wind up its operations. Following the repeal of the act, the cessation of the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust will occur over a period of up to three years, in which time the trust will continue to manage and meet existing commitments for current grants and other projects, and undertake other requirements to cease the trust, including allocation of any residual funds.
To support these arrangements, the bill includes amendments to the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 to provide transitional measures which preserve sections 5 and 6 of the repealed act, the specified periods beyond the commencement of the repeal act. Section 5 declares the NRMA road safety trust to be a valid charitable trust established for public charitable purposes. This will avoid any doubt as to the trust maintaining its charitable status until its cessation.
Section 6 of the repealed act provides indemnity from legal liabilities for the trustees, the NRMA, the territory and any person acting under their direction. This section is preserved for a further 15 years after the act’s repeal. The 15-year expiry will allow trustees to undertake the necessary decisions to cease the trust within a three-year period while also providing the minimum protection of 12 years once the trust ceases operations. This is a requirement which stems from the limitation provisions contained in the Limitation Act 1985. This will ensure that the trust’s activities can be carried out effectively without restrictive constraints imposed by potential legal actions that might otherwise arise.
Repealing the act is one step in ceasing the trust arrangement with NRMA Insurance. The other steps required to cease the trust are the discontinuation of funding contributions from the ACT government and NRMA Insurance and the distribution of any residual funds of the trust. As I mentioned when the bill was introduced, the ACT government funding of the trust was set up under the Road Transport (General) (Road Safety Contribution) Determination 2003, which provided for a $2 levy to be paid when a vehicle is registered in the territory. The NRMA matched this dollar for dollar with $2 from insurance premiums paid to NRMA Insurance. I can advise the Assembly that the road safety contribution determination has been revoked, with NRMA Insurance also ceasing its funding of the trust from 1 July 2015.
The final step in ceasing of the trust will be to deal with the distribution of any residual trust funds. Under the deed of trust, the expenditure of remaining trust funds is, in the first instance, a matter for the trustees. However, any residual funds will
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