Page 1077 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 5 April 2016
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We also introduce two additional reforms that will ease the day-to-day burden for businesses and individuals and take advantage of our increasingly digital environment. This reform is just part of the government’s plan for making Canberra a leading digital city, a city in which our digital capability is extensively used by businesses, individuals and other institutions.
Firstly, this bill removes from 50 pieces of legislation the requirement for signed and witnessed statutory declarations. They are replaced instead by the requirement for a statement that need not be signed. A central driver of this reform is that statements can be easily submitted electronically, thereby reducing the time and cost burden for thousands and thousands of people every year. The content of these statements will be every bit as important, because there will still be offences in place for making false statements or providing false information in these documents. The maximum penalty for such an offence is up to 100 penalty units, up to one year imprisonment, or both.
Secondly, the bill also removes the requirement from seven acts that complaints submitted to the government must be signed. This means that complaints, too, can be easily be submitted electronically. Quite simply, it will make it much easier for Canberrans to tell government what needs attention, and this can only help the government to fix things, and fix them faster. Much of this communication related to complaints is actioned through Access Canberra, our one-stop-shop regulator, which further supports our objective of making interactions with our government easier.
The bill responds to developments in the motor vehicle industry. This bill amends the Sale of Motor Vehicles Act 1977 so that high-voltage batteries in electric cars, including hybrid cars, will be considered as integral to the operation of the vehicle for the purpose of the warranties that are referred to in the act. These high-voltage batteries are essential to the propulsion of electric cars. They are also a significant cost component of these vehicles, particularly for the cost of used vehicles. As such, it is entirely appropriate that they fall within the warranty guidelines set forth in the act.
An amendment to the bill will also mean that renewals to liquor licences will no longer have to be applied for at least 30 days in advance. This will lower the burden of strict timing around the start of the renewal process, and licence holders’ safety and service requirements remain unaffected.
Through this legislation it will also make it easier for charitable organisations to report on charitable collection activities. It will enable incorporated associations that hold charitable collections licences to align reporting of those collections with their regular reporting activity. Charitable collection licence holders often do not have the capacity and resources to be tied up in the red tape of separate filings of financial reports. Their focus instead, quite rightly, should be on delivering support for those in our community who need help the most.
The bill also fixes up groups of requirements that, taken together, do not make practical sense for businesses and for workers. Firstly, certain businesses that are operating exempt and non-exempt lotteries will now be able to advertise these lotteries on the interior and exterior of their premises and no longer just at a distance from their premises.
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