| C2004C01936 | AUSSAT ACT 1984
- Reprinted as at 31 December 1989 (HISTACT CHAP 924 #DATE 31:12:1989)
*1*The AUSSAT Act 1984 as shown in this reprint comprises Act No. 21, 1984 amended as indicated in the Tables below. Table of Acts Act Number Date of Date of commencement Application, and year Assent saving or transitional provisions Satellite Communications Act 1984 21, 1984 26 Apr 1984 26 Apr 1984 Telecommunications Amendment Act 1988 121, 1988 14 Dec 1988 Ss. 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 23 - (2) and 26 (1): 1 Jan 1989 (see Gazette 1988, No. S402) Ss. 14, 23 (3) and 26 (2): 30 June 1989 (see Gazette 1989, No. S216) Remainder: Royal Assent Satellite Communications Amendment Act 1988 128, 1988 14 Dec 1988 S. 3: (see Note 2) S. 6 S. 4: 1 July 1989 (see Gazette 1989, No. S222) Remainder: Royal Assent OTC (Conversion into Public Company) Act 1988 129, 1988 14 Dec 1988 Ss. 7 (2), 8 (2), 9, 11-22 - and 25: 1 Apr 1989 (see Gazettte 1989, No. S92) S. 8 (1): 16 Mar 1989 (see Gazette 1989, No. S92) S. 8 (3): 1 Apr 1989 Remainder: Royal Assent Lands Acquisition (Repeal and Consequential Provisions) Act 1989 21, 1989 20 Apr 1989 9 June 1989 (see No. S185) - s. 2 and Gazette 1989, Provisions) Act 1989 Gazette 1989, No. S185) Telecommunications and Postal Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1989 63, 1989 19 June Ss. 1 and 2: Royal Assent S. 2 (4) 1989 Part 5 (ss. 17 and 18): 30 June 1989 (see s. 2 (3) and Gazette 1989, No. S216) Remainder: 1 July 1989 (see Gazette 1989, No. S230) ______________________________________________________________________________ __ Table of Amendments Certain provisions of the AUSSAT Act 1984, were repealed by the Telecommunications and Postal Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1989 (No. 63, 1989). The amendment history of the repealed provisions appears in Table 1 below. TABLE 1 ad.=added or inserted am.=amended rep.=repealed rs.=repealed and substituted ______________________________________________________________________________ __ Provision affected How affected Ss. 15-17 rep. No. 63, 1989 S. 18 am. Nos. 121 and 129, 1988 rep. No. 63, 1989 The amendment history of the AUSSAT Act 1984 after renumbering by the Telecommunications and Postal Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1989 appears in Table 2 below. TABLE 2 ad.=added or inserted am.=amended rep.=repealed rs.=repealed and substituted ______________________________________________________________________________ __ Provision affected How affected Title am. No. 63, 1989 S. 3 am. Nos. 121 and 128, 1988; No. 63, 1989 S. 4 ad. No. 63, 1989 S. 5 rs. No. 63, 1989 Ss. 6, 7 ad. No. 63, 1989 Ss. 8, 9 am. No. 63, 1989 S. 10 am. No. 121, 1988 rs. No. 63, 1989 S. 11 am. No. 121, 1988; No. 63, 1989 S. 12 am. No. 128, 1988; No. 63, 1989 Ss. 13, 14 am. No. 63, 1989 S. 15 am. No. 121, 1988; No. 63, 1989 S. 16 am. No. 63, 1989 S. 17 rs. No. 63, 1989 S. 18 ad. No. 128, 1988 am. No. 63, 1989 S. 19 ad. No. 128, 1988 am. Nos. 21 and 63, 1989 S. 20 am. No. 63, 1989 AUSSAT ACT 1984 - TABLE OF PROVISIONS
TABLE
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section
1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Interpretation
4. Interpretation-expressions used in Telecommunications Act
5. Extraterritorial operation of Act
6. Extension of Act to external Territories
7. Extension of Act to adjacent areas
8. Application
9. Primary object of AUSSAT
10. International obligations
11. Obligations of Directors of AUSSAT
12. Directors of AUSSAT
13. AUSSAT not required to provide services without reward
14. AUSSAT not to be public company
15. Shares in AUSSAT
16. Winding up of AUSSAT
17. Duty of AUSSAT's employees not to disclose contents of
communications etc.
18. Public Works Committee Act
19. Lands Acquisition Act
20. Regulations
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - LONG TITLE
SECT
An Act relating to the national telecommunications satellite system
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 1
Short title
SECT
1. This Act may be cited as the AUSSAT Act 1984.*1*
SEE NOTES TO FIRST ARTICLE OF THIS CHAPTER .
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 2
Commencement
SECT
2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the
Royal Assent.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 3
Interpretation
SECT
3.*2* In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
'AUSSAT'means AUSSAT Pty Ltd, being a company incorporated on 6 November
1981 under the law in force in the Australian Capital Territory;
'Australia', when used in a geographical sense, includes the external
Territories;
'Corporation' means the Australian Telecommunications Corporation;
'neighbouring regions' includes, without limiting the generality of the
expression, Papua New Guinea and other places in the South-West Pacific area;
*2*Section 3 of the Satellite Communications Amendment Act 1988 provides as
follows:
'3. Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the definition of
neighbouring regions and substituting the following definition:
'neighbouring regions means such countries and areas as are prescribed.'
Subsection 2 (2) of the Satellite Communications Amendment Act 1988 provides
as follows:
'(2) Sections 3 and 4 commence on a day or days to be fixed by
Proclamation.'
As at 31 December 1989 no date had been fixed and the amendment is not
incorporated in this reprint.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 4
Interpretation-expressions used in Telecommunications Act
SECT
4. Unless the contrary intention appears, expressions used in this Act, and
in the Telecommunications Act 1989, have the same respective meanings as in
that Act.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 5
Extraterritorial operation of Act
SECT
5. This Act applies both within and outside Australia.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 6
Extension of Act to external Territories
SECT
6. This Act extends to the external Territories.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 7
Extension of Act to adjacent areas
SECT
7. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act applies in relation to the
adjacent areas of the States and Territories as if references to Australia
(when used in a geographical sense) included references to the adjacent
areas.
(2) The application of this Act in relation to the adjacent areas of the
States and Territories extends only in relation to acts, matters and things
touching, concerning, arising out of or connected with the exploration of, or
the exploitation of the resources of, the continental shelf of Australia.
(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the application of this Act in relation
to the adjacent areas of the States and Territories because of subsection (1)
extends in relation to all acts done by or in relation to, and all matters,
circumstances and things affecting, any person who is in the adjacent area of
a State or Territory for a reason touching, concerning, arising out of, or
connected with the exploration of, or the exploitation of the resources of,
the continental shelf of Australia.
(4) In this section:
'adjacent area' in relation to a State or Territory, has the same meaning as
in the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 8
Application
SECT
8. This Act applies in relation to AUSSAT notwithstanding anything in the
Memorandum of Association or the Articles of Association of AUSSAT, but this
Act shall not be construed as affecting the operation of any provision of the
Memorandum of Association or Articles of Association of AUSSAT that is
capable of operating concurrently with this Act.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 9
Primary object of AUSSAT
SECT
9. (1) It is the intention of the Parliament that AUSSAT have as its primary
object the carrying on of the business, in accordance with sound commercial
principles, of providing:
(a) a telecommunications system for Australia by the use of space
satellites; and
(b) space satellite facilities for use in telecommunications systems for
neighbouring regions.
(2) If the Memorandum of Association of AUSSAT does not provide that the
principal object of AUSSAT is the object specified in subsection (1), the
Memorandum of Association shall be deemed so to provide and the Directors of
AUSSAT and all other persons shall act accordingly.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 10
International obligations
SECT
10. AUSSAT shall exercise its powers in a way consistent with Australia's
obligations under any convention.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 11
Obligations of Directors of AUSSAT
SECT
11. (1) The Directors of AUSSAT shall ensure that, so far as practicable,
AUSSAT is able to meet the requirements for space satellite facilities:
(a) of the Commonwealth for the purpose of the provision and maintenance
of
air navigation facilities and related safety services;
(b) of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for the purpose of the
provision by the Corporation of television and broadcasting services to remote
communities and dwellings; and
(c) of the Australian Telecommunications Corporation for the purpose of
the
provision of telephonic services in remote areas and of emergency services.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 12
Directors of AUSSAT
SECT
12. (1) In this section:
'Telecom director' means a director of the Corporation, other than a
government director (within the meaning of the Telecommunications Act 1975).
(2) At any time:
(a) the Directors of AUSSAT shall not include more than 2 persons who are,
or, within the period of 3 years immediately preceding their appointment, have
been, Telecom directors or employees of the Corporation; and
(b) at least three-quarters of the Directors of AUSSAT shall be persons
other than persons who are, or, within that period, have been, Telecom
directors or employees of the Corporation.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 13
AUSSAT not required to provide services without reward
SECT
13. Nothing in this Act or in any other Act shall be read as requiring
AUSSAT to allow the use by any person of facilities in an AUSSAT satellite, or
to provide any other facilities or any services to any person, without
adequate payment to, or other adequate reward for, AUSSAT.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 14
AUSSAT not to be public company
SECT
14. AUSSAT is not capable of being converted to a public company.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 15
Shares in AUSSAT
SECT
15. (1) Shares in AUSSAT are not capable of being held by any person other
than:
(a) the Commonwealth;
(b) the Corporation; or
(c) a person as trustee for the Commonwealth.
(2) Shares in AUSSAT shall not be issued or sold to the Corporation except
with the approval of the Minister.
(3) The number of shares in AUSSAT held by the Corporation at any time shall
not exceed 25% of the issued shares in AUSSAT at that time.
(4) Where the Corporation holds shares in AUSSAT, the Corporation shall not
give a proxy in relation to any of those shares to any person for valuable
consideration.
(5) Each share in AUSSAT shall be issued with the same rights and
restrictions with regard to voting.
(6) Any issue or sale of shares, or any arrangement or agreement, that is
contrary to this section is void and of no effect.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 16
Winding up of AUSSAT
SECT
16. AUSSAT is not capable of being:
(a) voluntarily wound up; or
(b) wound up under an order of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital
Territory on an application made, whether alone or otherwise, by AUSSAT or a
person referred to in subsection 15 (1) (whether in the capacity of the person
as a creditor of AUSSAT or otherwise);
except in accordance with a resolution passed by each House of the Parliament.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 17
Duty of AUSSAT's employees not to disclose contents of communications etc.
SECT
17. (1) Subject to subsection (2), it is the duty of a person who is an
employee of AUSSAT not to disclose any fact or document that:
(a) relates to:
(i) the contents or substance of a communication that has been
carried
by AUSSAT or a communication in the course of telecommunications carriage;
(ii) telecommunications services supplied, or intended to be
supplied,
to another person by AUSSAT; or
(iii) the affairs or personal particulars (including any unlisted
telephone number or any address) of another person; and
(b) comes to the person's knowledge, or into the person's possession,
because the person is an employee of AUSSAT.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to a disclosure by a person:
(a) in the performance of the person's duties as an employee of AUSSAT;
(b) as a witness summonsed to give evidence, or to produce documents, in a
court of law;
(c) under the requirements of a law of the Commonwealth; or
(d) in prescribed circumstances.
(3) This section does not limit by implication any duty that a person who is
or has been an employee of AUSSAT has apart from this section.
(4) In this section:
'communication in the course of telecommunications carriage' means a
communication that is being carried by AUSSAT, and includes a communication
that has been collected or received by AUSSAT for carriage by it, but has not
been delivered by it;
'employee', in relation to AUSSAT, includes a person who performs services
for or on behalf of AUSSAT and an employee of such a person.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 18
Public Works Committee Act
SECT
18. The Public Works Committee Act 1969 does not apply in relation to
AUSSAT.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 19
Lands Acquisition Act
SECT
19. (1) The Lands Acquisition Act 1989 does not apply in relation to the
acquisition of land, or an interest in land, by AUSSAT by agreement.
(2) In subsection (1):
'interest', in relation to land, means:
(a) a legal or equitable estate or interest in the land; or
(b) a right, power or privilege over, or in relation to, the land.
AUSSAT ACT 1984 - SECT 20
Regulations
SECT
20. (1) The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with
this Act, prescribing all matters:
(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving
effect to this Act or for carrying out the objects of Aussat.
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