Page 369 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 2018
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non-territory agencies. The amendments have not been proposed in relation to a particular matter, but they support our agencies to respond to cross-border public safety issues. Officials undertaking public safety related auditing and compliance action are often in contact with interstate colleagues seeking relevant information on licensees working across borders and other information that will help them carry out their statutory functions.
As well as the informal bodies and networks through which the policy and regulatory officers work together, the Building Ministers Forum has created two new groups to collaborate and share information on national and cross-border building issues: the senior officials group and the building regulators forum.
The amendments provide a framework for public safety agencies in the territory to provide information to their counterparts in other jurisdictions, and for external agencies to request and receive the information. The framework has important tests to prevent information being released or accessed inappropriately. The giving agency must be satisfied that, firstly, the information relates to the function of the non-territory agency; secondly, the information relates to compliance with the law of another jurisdiction that makes provision for public safety; thirdly, the agency receiving the information will use the information to exercise a function it has under that law; and, finally, giving the information will not unreasonably compromise the exercise of a function under the territory law.
The giving agency can also impose conditions on how the receiving agency uses, stores or shares the public safety information. The territory agencies will also be subject to the territory privacy principles and other provisions of the Information Privacy Act.
By authorising the disclosure of information obtained by public safety agencies in the course of their functions, the bill does engage the right to privacy. This right is protected under section 12 of the Human Rights Act. I consider that this engagement, given the checks that I have outlined, is reasonable in a fair and just society to help protect public safety. A detailed justification is outlined in the explanatory statement for the bill. I note that the scrutiny committee refers the Assembly to this explanation.
The other main change is to amend the Electricity Safety Act to create the concept of electrical wiring rules. At present the Electricity Safety Act adopts Australian and New Zealand standard 3000, also known as AS/NZS3000. While other technical standards can be made by regulation, they are given the same effect as AS/NZS3000. Failing to comply with other technical standards is not included in the main offences in sections 5 and 6 of the act.
The ACT electrical wiring rules will continue to incorporate the Australian standard, but there will now be a power for the minister to make an ACT-specific appendix to the standards in a disallowable instrument. The wiring rules will also include any relevant regulation made under the act. This is similar to the concept of the building code, made under the Building Act, and the plumbing code, created by the Water and Sewerage Act. Both of these codes incorporate national standards and local additions where required.
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