2017

THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

GENE TECHNOLOGY AMENDMENT BILL 2017 

REVISED EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Presented by
Meegan Fitzharris MLA 
Minister for Health 

Outline

The purpose of the Gene Technology Amendment Bill 2017 is to amend the
Gene Technology Act 2003 (the Act) to bring it in line with the changes outlined in the
Gene Technology Act 2000 (Commonwealth) to ensure the continuation of a nationally consistent regulatory system for gene technology. 

The amendments aim to improve the operation of the Act without changing the underlying policy intent or overall legislative framework of the regulatory scheme.
The amendments will reflect the changes - where they are applicable to the local Act – as outlined in the Commonwealth Gene Technology Amendment Bill 2015 and
Gene Technology Amendment Bill Explanatory Memorandum.
The changes will include: 
•	discontinuing the requirement for quarterly reporting to the Minister  (annual reporting will remain);
•	clarifying which dealings may be authorised by inadvertent dealings;
•	updating advertising requirements for public consultations;
•	removing information about genetically modified (GM) products authorised by other agencies from the Record of GMO and GM Product Dealings maintained by the 
Gene Technology Regulator (Part 4 of Schedule 1 of the Act);
•	changing licence variation requirements to provide greater flexibility for licence-holders (Part 5 of Schedule 1 of the Act);
•	updating the considerations required before dealings may be scheduled as notifiable low risk dealings (Part 6 of Schedule 1 of the Act); and
•	clarifying ambiguous wording (Part 6 of Schedule 1 of the Act).

Financial Implications
There are no financial implications associated with these amendments. 

Human Rights Considerations
The Bill does not engage or limit rights under the Human Rights Act 2004.