2018
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

(As presented)
(Alistair Coe)
Government Agencies (Land Acquisition Reporting) Bill 2018

Contents
	Page
Part 1	Preliminary
	1	Name of Act	2
	2	Commencement	2
	3	Dictionary	2
	4	Notes	2
Part 2	Important concepts
	5	What is a government agency?	3
	6	Who is a responsible Minister?	3
Part 3	Reporting requirements
	7	Presentation of report about acquisition	4
	8	Report about acquisition of land	5
	9	Report about acquisition of interest in land	7
	10	Report about acquisition—additional matters for city renewal authority	8
	11	Report about acquisition—additional matters for suburban land agency	8
Part 4	Miscellaneous
	12	Relationship to other laws	10
	13	Regulation-making power	10
Part 5	Consequential amendments
	14	City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency Act 2017
Sections 13 and 43	11
Dictionary		12

2018
THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

(As presented)
(Alistair Coe)
Government Agencies (Land Acquisition Reporting) Bill 2018

A Bill for
An Act about reports about land acquired by government agencies, and for other purposes

    

The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory enacts as follows:

Part 1	Preliminary
1	Name of Act
This Act is the Government Agencies (Land Acquisition Reporting) Act 2018.
2	Commencement
This Act commences on 1 January 2019.
Note	The naming and commencement provisions automatically commence on the notification day (see Legislation Act, s 75 (1)).
3	Dictionary
The dictionary at the end of this Act is part of this Act.
Note 1	The dictionary at the end of this Act defines certain terms used in this Act, and includes references (signpost definitions) to other terms defined elsewhere in this Act.
For example, the signpost definition ‘government agency—see section 5.’ means that the term ‘government agency’ is defined in that section and the definition applies to this Act.
Note 2	A definition in the dictionary (including a signpost definition) applies to the entire Act unless the definition, or another provision of the Act, provides otherwise or the contrary intention otherwise appears (see Legislation Act, s 155 and s 156 (1)).
4	Notes
A note included in this Act is explanatory and is not part of this Act.
Note	See the Legislation Act, s 127 (1), (4) and (5) for the legal status of notes.

Part 2	Important concepts
5	What is a government agency?
In this Act:
government agency means—
	(a)	an administrative unit; or
	(b)	a public sector body; or
	(c)	a territory entity.
6	Who is a responsible Minister?
In this Act:
responsible Minister, for a government agency, means—
	(a)	for an administrative unit—the Minister allocated responsibility for the administrative unit under the Public Sector Management Act 1994, section 14 (1) (a); and
	(b)	for a public sector body—the Minister allocated responsibility for the Act under which the body is established under the administrative arrangements under the Public Sector Management Act 1994, section 14 (1) (b); and
	(c)	for a territory entity—the Minister declared as the responsible Minister for the territory entity’s annual report under the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004, section 12.

Part 3	Reporting requirements
7	Presentation of report about acquisition
	(1)	Within 6 sitting days after the end of a quarter in which an acquisition is made, the responsible Minister for the acquiring government agency must present to the Legislative Assembly a report about the acquisition.
	(2)	Within 10 working days of presenting the report about the acquisition to the Legislative Assembly, the responsible Minister must give the relevant committee—
	(a)	a copy of the report; and
	(b)	for an acquisition of land—
	(i)	if the report identifies land acquired for public housing—the identifying particulars of the land; and
	(ii)	if the report identifies land acquired from a person other than a corporation or other body—the person from whom it was acquired.
	(3)	In this section:
relevant committee means—  
	(a)	a standing committee of the Legislative Assembly nominated by the Speaker for subsection (2); or
	(b)	if no nomination under paragraph (a) is in effect—the standing committee of the Legislative Assembly responsible for public accounts.
8	Report about acquisition of land
	(1)	A report about an acquisition of land must—
	(a)	identify—
	(i)	the particulars of the land that was acquired; and
	(ii)	the government agency that acquired the land; and
	(iii)	if the land was acquired from a corporation or other body—the corporation or body from whom it was acquired; and
	(b)	describe the way in which the acquisition was made; and
	(c)	state—
	(i)	the compensation paid for the land; and
	(ii)	any other amount paid in relation to the acquisition; and
	(d)	include the information considered by the acquiring government agency in relation to deciding the amounts mentioned in paragraph (c) including—
	(i)	any valuation given to the acquiring government agency by the person from whom the interest was acquired; and
	(ii)	any other valuation considered by the acquiring government agency; and
	(e)	state—
	(i)	which Minister, if any, considered the acquisition; and
	(ii)	whether the acquisition was considered by Cabinet; and 
	(iii)	who approved the acquisition; and
	(iv)	the date the acquisition was approved; and
	(f)	explain—
	(i)	the reason for the acquisition; and
	(ii)	how value for money was pursued in accordance with the Government Procurement Act 2001, section 22A; and
	(iii)	how the acquisition meets the requirements of the Planning and Development Act 2007; and
	(iv)	the current and future status of the land under the territory plan, including any condition of the Crown lease; and
Note	A reference to an Act includes a reference to the statutory instruments made or in force under the Act, including any regulation (see Legislation Act, s 104). Statutory instruments made under the Planning and Development Act 2007 include the statement of planning intent, the territory plan and the statement of strategic directions.
	(g)	describe how the acquisition, including the intended use of the land, supports land development that is—
	(i)	in the public interest; and 
	(ii)	environmentally sustainable; and
	(h)	include the information considered by the acquiring government agency in relation to making the acquisition, including—
	(i)	any advice received from the head of service or another government agency; and
	(ii)	all risk assessments made or received by the government agency in relation to the acquisition; and
	(i)	for an acquisition made by a territory authority—explain how the acquisition upholds the statement of intent made under the Financial Management Act 1996, section 61 for the territory authority; and
Note	Territory authority means a body established for a public purpose under an Act, but does not include a body declared by regulation not to be a territory authority (see Legislation Act, dict, pt 1).
	(j)	include anything prescribed by regulation.
Examples—par (b)
·	agreement under the Lands Acquisition Act 1994, s 32
·	compulsory process under the Lands Acquisition Act 1994, s 33
·	an agreement when there was no pre-acquisition declaration or certificate under the Lands Acquisition Act 1994, s 21 in force for the acquisition
·	surrender of title for compensation
Examples—par (c) (ii)
·	consultant fees
·	commissions
Note	An example is part of the Act, is not exhaustive and may extend, but does not limit, the meaning of the provision in which it appears (see Legislation Act, s 126 and s 132).
	(2)	However, if the land is acquired for public housing, the report—
	(a)	must not include the identifying particulars of the land; and
	(b)	must identify the suburb in which the land is located.
9	Report about acquisition of interest in land
	(1)	A report about an acquisition of an interest in land must set out the matters mentioned in section 8 (1) (a) to (d).
	(2)	In this section:
interest in land means—
	(a)	an easement; or
	(b)	any other interest in land that is not the legal or equitable estate in the land.
10	Report about acquisition—additional matters for city renewal authority
In addition to the matters mentioned in section 8, a report about an acquisition of land by the city renewal authority must—
	(a)	explain how the acquisition complies with any direction made under the City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency Act 2017, section 63 (Treasurer must make directions for land acquisition); and
	(b)	explain how the acquisition upholds the following under that Act, to the extent they relate to acquisitions:
	(i)	the objects of the authority under that Act, section 8;
	(ii)	the functions of the authority under that Act, section 9;
	(iii)	a statement of expectations made under that Act, section 17;
	(iv)	a statement of operational intent made under that Act, section 18; and
	(c)	include anything prescribed by regulation.
11	Report about acquisition—additional matters for suburban land agency
In addition to the matters mentioned in section 8, a report about an acquisition of land by the suburban land agency must—
	(a)	explain how the acquisition complies with any direction made under the City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency Act 2017, section 63; and
	(b)	explain how the acquisition upholds the following under that Act, to the extent they relate to acquisitions:
	(i)	the objects of the agency under that Act, section 38; 
	(ii)	the functions of the agency under that Act, section 39; and
	(c)	include anything prescribed by regulation.

Part 4	Miscellaneous
12	Relationship to other laws
	(1)	This Act is in addition to the requirements of any other territory law.
	(2)	If a Minister is required under any other territory law to prepare a report about the acquisition of land, the Minister may prepare a report that complies with both this Act and the other law.
13	Regulation-making power
The Executive may make regulations for this Act.
Note	A regulation must be notified, and presented to the Legislative Assembly, under the Legislation Act.

Part 5	Consequential amendments
14	City Renewal Authority and Suburban Land Agency Act 2017
Sections 13 and 43
omit

Dictionary
(see s 3)
Note 1	The Legislation Act contains definitions and other provisions relevant to this Act.
Note 2	For example, the Legislation Act, dict, pt 1, defines the following terms:
·	body
·	city renewal authority
·	corporation
·	head of service
·	Legislative Assembly
·	Minister (see s 162)
·	must (see s 146)
·	person
·	public sector body
·	quarter
·	sitting day
·	Speaker
·	suburban land agency
·	territory authority
·	territory law
·	territory plan.
government agency—see section 5.
land means the legal or equitable estate in land.
responsible Minister, for a government agency—see section 6.
territory entity—see the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004, section 7C.

Endnotes
1	Presentation speech
	Presentation speech made in the Legislative Assembly on 1 August 2018.
2	Notification
	Notified under the Legislation Act on	2018.
3	Republications of amended laws
	For the latest republication of amended laws, see www.legislation.act.gov.au.

© Australian Capital Territory 2018