Industry, Technology and Commerce Legislation Amendment Act 1991 (Cth)
Industry, Technology and Commerce Legislation Amendment Act 1991
PART 1—PRELIMINARY
Section | |
1. | Short title |
2. | Commencement |
| |
3. | Principal Act |
4. | Interpretation |
5. | Functions of Board |
6. | Guidelines for policies and practices of Board |
7. | Agreements for discretionary grants |
8. | Agreements for generic technology grants |
9. | Insertion of new Division: |
| |
| |
10. | Repayment of subsidies on breach of agreement |
11. | Registration of research agencies |
12. | Certificate as to research and development activities |
13. | Certificate as to core technology |
14. | Joint registration |
15. | Copies of certificate to be given to persons affected |
TABLE OF PROVISIONS—
Section | |
16. | Service of notices etc. |
17. | Insertion of new sections: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
18. | Advances in respect of subsidies |
19. | Annual report |
20. | Application of amendments—review of decisions |
| |
21. | Principal Act |
22. | Interpretation |
23. | Repeal of section 7 and substitution of new sections: |
| |
| |
| |
| |
24. | Principal Act |
25. | Organisation may accept gifts etc. and act as trustee |
| |
26. | Amendment of other Acts |
SCHEDULE
AMENDMENT OF OTHER ACTS
Industry, Technology and Commerce Legislation Amendment Act 1991
An Act to amend various Acts relating to matters dealt with by the Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce, and for related purposes
[
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
the commencement of the
The amendment of the
The amendments of the
PART 2 —AMENDMENT OF THE INDUSTRY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACT 1986
4. Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended:
(a) by omitting “or” from the end of paragraph (b) of the definition of “agreement under this Act” in subsection (1);
(b) by adding at the end of the definition of “agreement under this Act” in subsection (1) the following word and paragraph:
“or (d) a national procurement development program agreement;”;
(c) by omitting “or” from the end of paragraph (b) of the definition of “application” in subsection (1);
(d) by adding at the end of the definition of “application” in subsection (1) the following word and paragraph:
“or (d) an application for a national procurement development program agreement;”;
(e) by omitting “or” from the end of paragraph (b) of the definition of “subsidy” in subsection (1);
(f) by omitting “agreement.” from paragraph (c) of the definition of “subsidy” in subsection (1) and substituting “agreement; or”;
(g) by adding at the end of the definition of “subsidy” in subsection (1) the following paragraph:
“(d) a payment by the Commonwealth under a national procurement development program agreement.”;
(h) by inserting in subsection (1) the following definitions:“
‘Australian government body’ means:
(a) the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; or
(b) an authority of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory; or
(c) an incorporated company in which an entity covered by paragraph (a) or (b) has a controlling interest;
‘Australian government contractor’ means a person who performs services, otherwise than as an employee, under contract for one or more Australian government bodies;
‘corporate researcher’ means a researcher other than an individual natural person;
‘designated activity’ means:
(a) the manufacture of goods; or
(b) the performance of services; or
(c) mining operations or operations for the recovery of naturally occurring petroleum or of natural gas; or
(d) construction operations relating to buildings or works; or
(e) the production of software for computers or for similar equipment; or
(f) an activity in respect of which a declaration under section 34b is in force; or
(g) the development of systems and processes, in relation to an activity referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or(f);
‘national procurement development program agreement’ means an agreement entered into by the Board under section 34a;”.
6. Section 20 of the Principal Act is amended:
(a) by omitting from subsection (1) “or national interest agreements” and substituting “, national interest agreements or national procurement development program agreements”;
(b) by omitting from subsection (2) “The Minister shall not” and substituting “Subject to subsection (2a), the Minister must not”;
(c) by inserting after subsection (2) the following subsection:
“(2a) Subsection (2) does not apply if the directions are given in accordance with a request made by the Board.”.
Section 31 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from paragraph (2) (a) “1991” and substituting “1994”.
After section 34 of the Principal Act the following Division is inserted:
“34a. (1) Subject to this Act and to any relevant directions under section 20, the Board may enter into an agreement, on behalf of the Commonwealth, with a corporate researcher and an Australian government body about a project directed towards meeting the demand, or likely demand, of one or more Australian government bodies or Australian government contractors for goods or services.
“(2) Except in special cases, the Board must not enter into a national procurement development program agreement unless it is satisfied that the project concerned:
(a) is directed towards the development of internationally competitive goods or services; and
(b) involves adequate trialling and demonstration activities.
“(3) The Board may refuse to enter into a national procurement development program agreement about a project if the carrying out of the agreement would be likely to give an undue competitive advantage to an Australian government body that carries on business.
“(4) A corporate researcher or an Australian government body, or both, may make an application to the Board for a national procurement development program agreement.
“(5) In this section:
“34b. The Minister may, by notice published in the
“(2) This Act does not prevent the inclusion in a national procurement development program agreement with an Australian government body of provision for the repayment by that body to the Commonwealth on breach by the body of the agreement, or in any
other circumstances specified in the agreement, of the whole or a part of a subsidy paid to the body under the agreement.”.
“(2) If the Board issues a certificate to the effect that particular activities were not or are not research and development activities, the Board must give notice in writing to the person concerned stating the reasons for issuing the certificate.”.
“(2) If the Board issues a certificate to the effect that particular technology was not core technology, the Board must give notice in writing to the eligible company concerned stating the reasons for issuing the certificate.”.
“(3a) If the Board refuses to register the companies jointly, the Board must give notice in writing to the companies stating the reasons for the refusal.”.
Section 39r of the Principal Act is amended by omitting “company” (wherever occurring) and substituting “person”.
After section 39r of the Principal Act the following sections are inserted:
“39s. (1) This section applies to a decision of the Board under subsection 39F (4), (6), (7) or (9), section 39j, 39l or 39la or subsection 39p (3).
“(2) A person who is affected by a decision of the Board may, if dissatisfied with the decision, by notice given to the Board:
(a) within the period of 21 days after receiving notice of the decision; or
(b) within such further period as the Board allows; request the Board to reconsider the decision.
“(3) The request must set out the reasons for making the request.
“(4) Upon receipt of the request, the Board must reconsider the decision and may, subject to subsection (5), confirm or revoke the decision or vary the decision in such manner as the Board thinks fit.
“(5) If the Board does not confirm, revoke or vary a decision before the end of the period of 60 days after the day on which the Board received the request under subsection (2) to reconsider the decision, the Board is taken, at the end of that period, to have confirmed the decision under subsection (4).
“(6) Where the Board confirms, revokes or varies a decision before the end of the period referred to in subsection (5), the Board must, by notice served on the applicant, inform the applicant of the result of the reconsideration of the decision, and the reasons for confirming, varying or revoking the decision, as the case may be.
“(7) Where the Board gives a notice to an applicant under subsection (6) informing the applicant that a decision has been revoked or varied, the Board must advise the Commissioner of particulars of the notice.
“39t. (1) Applications may be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of decisions of the Board:
(a) that have been confirmed or varied under subsection 39s (4); or
(b) under subsection 39g (4), section 39m or subsection 39n (2) or 39p (4).
“(2) Where a decision is taken, under subsection 39s (5), to be confirmed, section 29 of the
“(3) Where a request is made under subsection 39s (2) in respect of a decision, section 41 of the
“(4) The hearing of a proceeding relating to a decision covered by subsection (1) must take place in private and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal may, by order:
(a) give directions as to the persons who may be present; and
(b) give directions of a kind referred to in paragraph 35 (2) (b) or (c) of the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975.
“39u. (1) Where the Board makes a decision to which section 39s applies and gives to a person whose interests are affected by the decision notice in writing of the decision, that notice must include a statement to the effect that:
(a) the person may, if dissatisfied with the decision, seek a reconsideration of the decision by the Board in accordance with subsection 39s (2); and
(b) the person may, subject to the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 , if dissatisfied with a decision made by the Board upon that reconsideration confirming or varying the first-mentioned decision, make application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of the decision so confirmed or varied.
“(2) Where the Board confirms or varies a decision under subsection 39s (4) and gives to a person notice in writing of the confirmation or variation of the decision, that notice must include a statement to the effect that the person may, subject to the
“(3) Where the Board makes a decision under subsection 39g (4), section 39m or subsection 39n (2) or 39p (4) and gives to a person whose interests are affected by the decision notice in writing of the decision, that notice must:
(a) in all cases—include a statement to the effect that, subject to the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 , application may be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, by or on behalf of any person whose interests are affected by the decision, for review of the decision; and(b) except where subsection 28 (4) of that Act applies—include a statement to the effect that a request may be made under section 28 of that Act by or on behalf of such a person for a statement setting out the findings on material questions of fact, referring to the evidence or the material on which those findings were based and giving the reasons for the decision.
“(4) A failure to comply with this section does not affect the validity of the decision.
“39v. (1) For the purposes of the
“(2) Subject to subsection (1), for the purposes of the
“(3) Section 170 of the
18. Section 42 of the Principal Act is amended:
(a) by omitting “a researcher” (wherever occurring) and substituting “an eligible recipient”;
(b) by omitting “the researcher” (wherever occurring) and substituting “the eligible recipient”;
(c) by adding at the end the following subsection:
“(7) In this section:
‘eligible recipient’ means:
(a) a researcher; or
(b) an Australian government body.”.
19. Section 46 of the Principal Act is amended:
(a) by omitting from paragraph (2) (a) “and national interest grant agreements” and substituting “, national interest agreements and national procurement development program agreements”;
(b) by omitting subparagraph (2) (b) (i) and substituting the following subparagraph:
“(i) the name of each party to the agreement (other than the Commonwealth);”;
(c) by omitting from subparagraph (2) (b) (v) “or a national interest agreement” and substituting “, a national interest agreement or a national procurement development program agreement”;
(d) by inserting in paragraph (2) (c) “or Australian government body” after “researcher” (wherever occurring).
PART 3 —AMENDMENT OF THE NATIONAL MEASUREMENT ACT 1960
“
(a) a unit of measurement prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7a (1); or
(b) a combination made in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission of such prescribed units of measurement; or
(c) a combination made in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission of a prefix prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7a (3) and a unit of measurement referred to in paragraph (a); or
(d) a combination made in accordance with guidelines issued by the Commission of a prefix prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7a (3) and a combination of units of measurement referred to in paragraph (b).”.
23. (1) Section 7 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sections are substituted:
“7. Subject to subsection 7a (2), the Australian legal units of measurement of a physical quantity are the sole legal units of measurement of that physical quantity.
“7a. (1) The regulations may prescribe the Australian legal units of measurement of any physical quantity.
“(2) The regulations may prescribe units of measurement of any physical quantity to be additional legal units of measurement for use for a particular purpose or for the purpose of a particular contract,
dealing or other transaction or class of contracts, dealings or other transactions.
“(3) The regulations may prescribe prefixes specifying numerical value.
“7b. (1) The Commission may issue written guidelines governing:
(a) the way in which units of measurement prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7a (1) may be combined to produce an Australian legal unit of measurement; and
(b) the way in which:
(i) a unit of measurement referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘Australian legal unit of measurement’; or
(ii) a combination of units of measurement referred to in paragraph (b) of that definition;
may be combined with a prefix prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7a (3) to produce an Australian legal unit of measurement.
“(2) A set of guidelines issued by the Commission under subsection (1) is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46a of the
(2) Regulations in force under section 7 of the Principal Act immediately before the commencement of subsection (1) of this section continue in force and are taken to have been made under section 7a of the Principal Act as amended by subsection (1).
PART 4 —AMENDMENT OF THE SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY RESEARCH ACT 1949
“(1) Subject to the approval of the Minister and subject to any regulations that are applicable, the Organisation may, in or in connection with the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers:
(a) accept money or other property given, devised, bequeathed, assigned or otherwise made available to the Organisation (whether on trust or otherwise); and
(b) agree to any conditions subject to which money or other property
is given, devised, bequeathed, assigned or otherwise made available to the Organisation; and
(c) act as trustee of money or other property vested in the Organisation upon trust.
“(1a) The Organisation need not obtain the Minister’s approval if the value of the money or other property given, devised, bequeathed, assigned or otherwise made available to the Organisation is not more than $1 million or such other amount as is prescribed for the purpose of this subsection.”.
SCHEDULE Section 26
AMENDMENT OF OTHER ACTS
Omit “any other”, substitute “a”.
Omit “any other”, substitute “a”.
Insert “that is a claimant for a grant” after “authority or association”.
Omit the paragraphs, substitute the following paragraphs:
“(e) if less than 20% but not less than 10% of the consideration for those services is consideration that the Commission is satisfied has accrued or will accrue, or, if those services were supplied, would accrue, to a person resident and carrying on business in Australia—treat that expenditure as being reduced by an amount equal to 25% of that expenditure; or
(f) if less than 10% but not less than 5% of the consideration for those services is consideration that the Commission is satisfied has accrued or will accrue, or, if those services were supplied, would accrue, to a person resident and carrying on business in
Australia—treat that expenditure as being reduced by an amount equal to 50% of that expenditure; or
(g) if less than 5% of the consideration for those services is consideration that the Commission is satisfied has accrued or will accrue, or, if those services were supplied, would accrue, to a person resident and carrying on business in Australia—disregard that expenditure.”.
Omit “income”, substitute “amount”.
Omit “paragraph (1) (a)”, substitute “subsection (1)”.
Omit “prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1)”, substitute “of the kind mentioned in section 55”.
Omit “subsection (1)”, substitute “subsection (2)”.
Omit “subsection (1) or (2)”, substitute “subsection (2)”.
Omit “subsection 97 (2)”, substitute “subsection 97 (3)”.
Omit “subsection 97 (1)”, substitute “subsection 97 (2)”.
Omit the subsection, substitute the following subsection:
“(10) Infringement proceedings cannot be brought in respect of an infringement committed:
(a) between the day on which the patent application lapses and the day on which it is restored; or
(b) between the day on which the patent ceases and the day on which it is restored.”.
After “Chapter” insert “and the regulations”.
Omit “section 131”, substitute “section 133”.
Omit “subsection 123 (1)”, substitute “subsection 125 (1)”.
1. No. 89, 1986, as amended. For previous amendments, see No. 59, 1988; No. 167, 1989; and No. 35, 1990.
2. No. 64, 1960, as amended. For previous amendments, see No. 6, 1964; No. 93, 1966; No. 216, 1973 (as amended by No. 20, 1974); No. 158, 1978; No. 77, 1984; No. 65, 1985; No. 76, 1986; No. 141, 1987; and No. 91, 1989.
3. No. 13, 1949, as amended. For previous amendments, see No. 78, 1959; No. 93, 1966; Nos 7 and 52, 1968; No. 216, 1973; No. 91, 1976; Nos 36 and 143, 1978; No. 80, 1982; No. 65, 1985; and No. 121, 1986.
[
Senate on 13 February 1991
House of Representatives on 7 March 1991
0
0
0