Wednesday, 18 October 2023

Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee

Annual Review 2021 and 2022: Statutory Rules and Legislative Instruments

Kathleen MATTHEWS-WARD (Broadmeadows) (10:31): I rise to speak on the Annual Review 2021 and 2022: Statutory Rules and Legislative Instruments report by the regulation review subcommittee of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee. I would like to thank the member for Greenvale for so ably leading the committee until recently, when he was elevated to the role of Parliamentary Secretary for Disability. I am so pleased he and the wonderful Minister for Disability are working hard to ensure all Victorians can pursue their potential and participate in society on an equal basis with others. I also congratulate the member for Narre Warren South for his appointment as the chair of SARC and congratulate him on the wonderful job he is doing.

I want to thank the dedicated and hardworking secretariat who support the committee, including Helen Mason, Katie Helme, Simon Dinsbergs, Sonya Caruana and Professor Jeremy Gans. As a member of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee I can attest to the diligence, sincerity and professionalism of the committee’s wonderful secretariat and the incredible assistance they provide to ensure committee members are prepared and fully briefed so that we can do our jobs. The committee meets every sitting Monday morning, and although it is not always the most exciting way to start the day, the work of the committee is very important.

Today I particularly want to acknowledge the extra work done by the regulation review subcommittee, who have tabled this report, and I acknowledge the members for Southern Metropolitan, South-Eastern Metropolitan and Northern Metropolitan regions and the members for Narre Warren South and Tarneit for their contributions. The subcommittee does incredibly valuable work in examining subordinate legislation without focusing on the policy merits. It instead focuses on the content of the relevant legislation. It acts as an additional and necessary check on the executive’s powers, which has long been seen as best practice in free and fair democracies, so much so that we have been asked to host an international conference next year.

It assesses the compatibility of statutory rules and legislative instruments with existing laws and regulations in the state. Under section 21 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994, the subcommittee scrutinises statutory rules to ensure that they are within the powers of the authorising act and are consistent with the general objectives of the authorising act. The subcommittee also ensures that the rule does not authorise any practices that may compromise personal privacy or privacy of health information. Neither statutory rules nor legislative instruments can have a retrospective effect, imposing a tax, fee, fine, imprisonment or any other penalty, unless clearly specified by the authorising act. They also cannot provide for the subdelegation of powers delegated by the authorised act. They work within strict confines to ensure that the Parliament is not burdened with administrative matters while ensuring that they do not contain any matter which should be brought before the Parliament.

The modern world is ever changing. In this context we need an effective body that has the expertise and the specialisation to assess the relevance and effectiveness of existing legislation and determine the need for relevant changes or additional instruments that contribute to the continuous adaptability of our systems. The subcommittee’s work is of particular importance in ensuring that statutory rules do not infringe on the fundamental rights of any individual.

The report shows that a considerable amount of deliberation goes into protecting the rights of Victorian people as part of the subcommittee’s work. The subcommittee’s role is integral in safeguarding individual and collective rights such as freedom of speech, privacy and due process, ensuring that Victorians can live in a society that values and respects their rights and freedoms. From reading the report, these important roles are being discharged to the highest standards by the current membership of the subcommittee. They put an enormous amount of work into their roles. The subcommittee dealt with 181 statutory rules and 45 legislative instruments in the 2021 series, and 137 statutory rules and 44 legislative instruments in the 2022 series.

Most of these were exempt from providing regulatory impact statements. A regulatory impact statement is required to ensure that the most efficient forms of regulations are adopted, that the need for the regulations is justified and that there is an adequate level of consultation in the development of subordinate legislation. Sections 8 and 9 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 do have provisions for exemption from preparing a regulatory impact statement. When an exemption for a regulatory impact statement applies, the exemption certificate is required to specify the section under which exemption was granted.

In my remaining time I want to reiterate that the work of the regulation review subcommittee is integral to the health of our democratic system. Through diligent scrutiny, the subcommittee serves as a protector of individual rights and guarantees transparency and accountability. This system of checks and balances ensures that laws are made to serve the best interests of the Victorian people.