Page 582 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 February 2020

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We will continue to work to support our local community clubs and to ensure that all Canberrans benefit from the sport, social and charitable contributions that our clubs make, while ensuring that gambling harm is addressed. I commend the bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Parton) adjourned to the next sitting.

Land Titles (Electronic Conveyancing) Legislation Amendment Bill 2020

Mr Ramsay, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement, a Human Rights Act compatibility statement and the following papers:

Verification of Authority Rules (Exposure draft), dated February 2020.

Verification of Identity Rules (Exposure draft), dated February 2020.

Title read by Clerk.

MR RAMSAY (Ginninderra—Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts, Creative Industries and Cultural Events, Minister for Building Quality Improvement, Minister for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (10.45): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

Today I am pleased to introduce the Land Titles (Electronic Conveyancing) Legislation Amendment Bill to modernise the ACT land titling laws and later today I will introduce a second land titling reform to adopt the electronic conveyancing national law in the ACT. This first bill repositions the current land titling laws so that they are less paper based and provides scope for electronic conveyancing or, as it is known, e-conveyancing. Further, this bill introduces a number of measures to reduce the risk of fraud.

Currently in the ACT, property transactions occur in person and by paper. Parties need to meet in person at a settlement room, exchange paper cheques and the certificate of title. The paperwork is then lodged, again in person, at the Land Titles Office. In this environment the paper certificate of title is the go-to document in a property transaction across various ACT land titling laws. Broadly, where there is a change in legal rights over property the paper certificate of title needs to be handed over. And the reason for this is that the person named in the certificate owns the property and can sell the property. As such, new owners take the old paper certificate to the Land Titles Office and seek a replacement with their name on it. However, we know the current paper-based land titles system is susceptible to abuse. We saw this when a MacGregor property was sold without the knowledge of its owner.

This bill removes the requirement for the certificate of title to be handed over between parties in a transaction and replaces it with a stronger security measure aligned with


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