EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads

Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988

Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910

Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1)

Companies Ordinances Repeal Ordinance 2006

Section 74 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (the Self-Government Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.  Paragraph 23(1)(h) provides that the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Legislative Assembly (the Assembly) has no power to make laws with respect to companies, close corporations, foreign companies, the acquisition of shares in bodies corporate, the regulation of the securities industry and the futures industry.  However subsection 23(2) provides that the regulations may omit any of the paragraphs in subsection (1) or reduce the scope of any of those paragraphs; the regulations currently provide limited powers to the Assembly on corporations law.

Subsection 12(1) of the Seat of Government (Administration) Act 1910 (the Seat of
Government Act) provides, in part, that the Governor-General may make Ordinances
for the peace, order and good government of the ACT with respect to companies,
close corporations, foreign companies, the acquisition of shares in bodies corporate
and the regulation of the securities industry and the futures industry.

The Regulations amend the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Regulations to remove the current restrictions on the Assembly’s power to make laws with respect to corporations matters, as well as provide the ACT Executive with appropriate powers in relation to corporations.

The Regulations also enable the Assembly to validate corporations legislation passed or amended by the Assembly since 1988.

The ACT was the only self-governing Territory that did not have power to legislate on all corporations matters.  The ACT became a party to the Corporations Agreement 2002 (the Agreement) on 13 October 2005.  The Agreement underpins the current national corporations legislative scheme and complements the referral of relevant power by the States to the Commonwealth in 2001.  The effect of the ACT becoming a party to the Agreement and the proposed Regulations is to put the ACT in a similar position to the Northern Territory in relation to power to make laws with respect to corporations and financial products and services.

The Companies Ordinance Repeal Ordinance 2006 (the Ordinance) repeals certain ordinances which were part of the administration of companies in the ACT prior to the enactment of the national corporations legislative scheme.  As these ordinances are now inoperative and obsolete it is appropriate that they have been repealed.

The Regulations and Ordinance commenced on the day after they were registered. 

The Regulations and Ordinance are legislative instruments for the purposes of the
Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Details of the Regulations and Ordinance are as follows:

Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment Regulations 2006 
(No. 1)

Section 1: Name of Regulations 

This section provides that the title of the Regulations is the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1).

Section 2: Commencement 

This section provided for the Regulations to commence on the day after they were registered.

Section 3: Amendment of Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Regulations

This section amends the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Regulations as set out in the Schedule. 

Schedule 1: Amendments

Item [1]: Regulation 1 

This item substitutes a new Regulation 1 into the Principal Regulations, so as to change the title of the Regulations from the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Regulations to the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Regulations 1989.  This change reflects current drafting practice.

Item [2]: Subregulation 3A(1), (2) and (2A) 

This item omits certain Regulations that provided limited corporations powers to the Assembly. These provisions became redundant once full powers were available through the deletion of paragraph 23(1)(h) of the Self-Government Act. 

Item [3]: After subregulation 3A (3) 

This item inserts a new subregulation (4) to correct the punctuation in paragraph 23(1)(g) of the Self-Government Act.  Subregulation (4) is proposed in response to the deletion of paragraph 23(1)(h) (see below).  The Self-Government Act empowers the regulations to 'omit' a paragraph from the Act.  However it is silent on the matter of amending punctuation in the Act after such an omission in order to give effect to the omission.  Section 74 allows for the regulations to have a 'necessary or convenient' power to give effect to the Act and it has therefore been taken that such power will allow for correction to punctuation at the end of paragraph (1)(g) which is necessary following the omission of paragraph 23(1)(h).  

Item [3] also provides a new subregulation (5) which deletes paragraph 23(1)(h) in its entirety, removing the former restriction and giving the Assembly full legislative power over corporations matters.

Item [4]: After subregulation 5 (3) 

This item inserts a new provision into Schedule 4 to the Self-Government Act, to provide the ACT Executive with governance powers in relation to corporations, corporate regulation and the regulation of financial products and services. 

Companies Ordinances Repeal Ordinance 2006

Section 1: Name of Ordinance 

This section provides that the title of the Ordinance is the Companies Ordinances Repeal Ordinance 2006. 

Section 2: Commencement 

This section provides that the Ordinance commenced on the day after it was registered. 

Section 3: Repeal 

This section repeals the following four Ordinances relating to companies matters that were inoperative and obsolete:

•	Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board Ordinance 1982;

•	Companies (Registered Societies) Ordinance 1990;

•	Corporate Affairs Commission Ordinance 1980; and

•	Ordinances Revision (Companies Amendments) Ordinance 1982.