Page 3529 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 12 September 2017
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Schedule 2 covers amendments to the Legislation Act initiated by the Parliamentary Counsel’s Office. I do not think it can get much more uncontroversial than this one, although I am happy to receive interjections from the other side to liven things up a bit. This SLAB omits references to “by-law” in the definition of “subordinate law”. Given the ACT has not made any by-laws since self-government, because by-laws typically relate to a particular geographical area and to local government, this makes a lot of sense to me.
The final schedule is where the really exciting changes come in. Wait for it: syntax is improved, language is updated, redundant provisions are omitted and notes are added. And I am personally thrilled that a number of cross-references are corrected so that they actually relate to the right section.
Mr Hanson: Really? Excited and delighted?
MS CHEYNE: Wait for it; I am getting there. In all seriousness, these are really important changes—
Mr Hanson: I hope you are not misleading the house. It is very serious to mislead. Saying you are “delighted, excited and thrilled”—I think it is getting close.
MS CHEYNE: I am sorry; I am clearly not being excited enough. I will try to liven things up a bit. In all seriousness, these are very important changes, not just for the enthusiastic pedants among us but also for the operation, the interpretation, the coherence and the ease of use of the acts, which can only be a good thing. In addition, SLABs do make important changes that have real implications for safety. Mr Hanson and Mr Rattenbury have talked in some detail about these, but I would like to talk in detail about them as well, because this is important to me for a range of reasons, including some personal ones.
For example, this bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 and the Residential Tenancies Regulation 1998 to clarify the rules for the installation of smoke alarms in rental properties. Currently the Residential Tenancies Act says the installation of smoke alarms must comply with a specific part of the building code. This creates confusion. The building code requirements were only intended to apply to new buildings, not to existing buildings. There is also some uncertainty as to whether the requirements apply to all classes of buildings that are subject to a residential tenancy agreement.
There is no room for uncertainty when it comes to an obligation to install smoke alarms in a rental property. This SLAB amends the Residential Tenancies Act so that requirements in relation to smoke alarms can be prescribed by regulation instead of by reference to the building code. The SLAB will also introduce those new regulations in the Residential Tenancies Regulation 1998.
These regulations very clearly set out what landlords must provide for tenanted properties. The smoke alarms must comply with Australian standards, must be functional and must be installed in or near a ceiling. Smoke alarms must be installed
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