Service Victoria Amendment Act 2024 (Vic)
Service Victoria Amendment Act 2024
No. 5 of 2024
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
Part 1—Preliminary
1Purposes
2Commencement
3Principal Act
Part 2—End-to-end service delivery
4Definitions
Part 3—Clarification of purposes and functions
5Purposes
6Functions of Service Victoria CEO
Part 4—Simplification and other improvements
7Service agency database—agreement with service agency
8Section 47G repealed
9Use and disclosure of regulated information by service agency
10Section 55 substituted
11Section 57 repealed
12Section 59 repealed
Part 5—Delivery partnerships with non‑government entities
13Performance of customer service functions by agreement
14Performance of customer service functions from other jurisdictions by agreement
15New Parts 3D and 3E inserted
16Performance of identity verification functions from other jurisdictions by agreement
17Performance of identity verification functions by agreement
Part 6—Identity verification and electronic identity credentials
18Definitions
19Divisions 1 and 2 of Part 6 repealed
20Minister may make identity verification standards
21Guiding principles for making and use of identity verification standards
22Section 43 substituted
23False or misleading statement in applications
24Reporting requirements
Part 7—Information management
25Definitions
26Functions of Service Victoria CEO
27Section 17 repealed
28Division 3 of Part 5 repealed
29Division 4 of Part 6 repealed
30Collection, use or disclosure of information in service agency database
31Section 47F repealed
32Section 54 substituted
33Regulations
Part 8—Repeal of this Act
34Repeal of this Act
═════════════
Endnotes
1 General information
Service Victoria Amendment Act 2024
No. 5 of 2024
[Assented to 27 February 2024]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
PART 1—PRELIMINARY
1Purposes
The main purposes of this Act are to amend the Service Victoria Act 2018—
(a)to provide for the delivery of functions by the Service Victoria CEO either with or on behalf of non-government entities and to provide for the delivery of functions by non‑government entities either with the Service Victoria CEO or on behalf of the Service Victoria CEO or a service agency; and
(b)to clarify the purposes of that Act; and
(c)to set out further functions and powers of the Service Victoria CEO; and
(d)to enable the identity verification standards to deal with the processes governing applications for, and the issue, renewal, suspension and cancellation of, electronic identity credentials; and
(e)to ensure that information management requirements under that Act are consistent with equivalent requirements in other Acts.
2Commencement
(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(2)If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 1 July 2025, it comes into operation on that day.
3Principal Act
In this Act, the Service Victoria Act 2018 is called the Principal Act.
PART 2—END-TO-END SERVICE DELIVERY
4Definitions
(1)In section 3 of the Principal Act insert the following definition—
"non-government entity means—
(a)any entity other than—
(i)a service agency or a non‑Victorian government agency; or
(ii)a special body or the equivalent of a special body that is established by or under the law of the Commonwealth or another State or a Territory; or
(b)any entity prescribed to be a non‑government entity;".
(2)In section 3 of the Principal Act, in the definition of customer service function—
(a)omit "of a service agency, the Service Victoria CEO or a non-Victorian government agency";
(b)after paragraph (b) insert—
"(ba)issuing an authority or official information document;".
(3)In section 3 of the Principal Act, for paragraph (e) of the definition of customer service function substitute—
"(e)receiving or making a payment, including but not limited to—
(i)receiving a payment of a fee in relation to an application or a request referred to in paragraph (d); or
(ii)receiving a payment of a fee or fine from a non-government entity;".
(4)In section 3 of the Principal Act, in the definition of function, after "includes" insert "power and".
(5)In section 3 of the Principal Act, in the definition of identity verification function omit "of a service agency, the Service Victoria CEO or a non-Victorian government agency".
PART 3—CLARIFICATION OF PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS
5Purposes
(1)In section 1(b) of the Principal Act—
(a)omit "for a regulatory framework";
(b)for "CEO." substitute "CEO; and".
(2)After section 1(b) of the Principal Act insert—
"(c)to provide for a central point for public access to Government services; and
(d)to support the transformation of the digital provision of Government services through Service Victoria.".
6Functions of Service Victoria CEO
(1)For section 15(c) of the Principal Act substitute—
"(c)to verify identity;".
(2)After section 15(fc) of the Principal Act insert—
"(fd)to support the digital delivery of Government services;
(fe)to establish and maintain a centralised point of contact for access to Government services;".
(3)In section 15(g) of the Principal Act, for "(fb) and (fc)" substitute "(fc), (fd) and (fe)".
PART 4—SIMPLIFICATION AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
7Service agency database—agreement with service agency
(1)In section 47A(1) of the Principal Act, after "service agency head" insert ", or an entity authorised by the service agency head,".
(2)Section 47A(2) of the Principal Act is repealed.
8Section 47G repealed
Section 47G of the Principal Act is repealed.
9Use and disclosure of regulated information by service agency
(1)In section 54A(2) of the Principal Act omit "or a delegate of the Service Victoria CEO".
(2)The note at the foot of section 54A(2) of the Principal Act is repealed.
10Section 55 substituted
For section 55 of the Principal Act substitute—
"55 Collection, holding, management and use of regulated information by Service Victoria CEO
(1)This section—
(a)applies despite anything to the contrary in any Act (other than the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006) or law; and
(b)does not affect any collection, holding, management or use of information that would otherwise be permitted by or under any Act or law.
(2)The Service Victoria CEO may collect, hold, manage or use information disclosed by a service agency in accordance with section 54A for the purpose for which the information was disclosed under that section.".
11Section 57 repealed
Section 57 of the Principal Act is repealed.
12Section 59 repealed
Section 59 of the Principal Act is repealed.
PART 5—DELIVERY PARTNERSHIPS WITH NON‑GOVERNMENT ENTITIES
13Performance of customer service functions by agreement
Section 9A(4) of the Principal Act is repealed.
14Performance of customer service functions from other jurisdictions by agreement
(1)After section 9B(1) of the Principal Act insert—
"(1A)Without limiting subsection (1), an agreement under that subsection may provide for the Service Victoria CEO to charge the non-Victorian government agency for services provided by, or on behalf of, the Service Victoria CEO in the performance of the customer service function.".
(2)In section 9B(3) of the Principal Act, for "Subsection (2) applies" substitute "Subsections (1A) and (2) apply".
15New Parts 3D and 3E inserted
After Part 3C of the Principal Act insert—
"PART 3D—PERFORMANCE OF FUNCTIONS BY SERVICE VICTORIA CEO ON BEHALF OF NON-GOVERNMENT ENTITIES
14GPerformance of functions for non‑government entities by agreement
(1)The Service Victoria CEO and a non‑government entity may agree in writing for the Service Victoria CEO to perform all or part of a function that the Service Victoria CEO may perform under this Act or any other law for or on behalf of the non‑government entity.
(2)Without limiting subsection (1), an agreement under that subsection may provide for the following—
(a)fees or charges payable by the non‑government entity for services provided to the non-government entity for the performance of the relevant function by the Service Victoria CEO for or on behalf of the non-government entity;
(b)arrangements for the joint performance of the relevant function by the non‑government entity and the Service Victoria CEO;
(c)the performance by the Service Victoria CEO of functions that are ancillary to the relevant function.
(3)On the coming into force of an agreement under subsection (1), the Service Victoria CEO may perform the relevant function for or on behalf of the non‑government entity in accordance with the agreement.
(4)In this section—
relevant function means a function, or part of a function, that is the subject of an agreement under subsection (1).
PART 3E—PERFORMANCE OF FUNCTIONS BY NON-GOVERNMENT ENTITIES
14H Performance of functions by non‑government entities
(1)The Service Victoria CEO and a non‑government entity may agree in writing for the non-government entity to perform all or part of a function that the Service Victoria CEO may perform under this Act or any other law, other than a function of the Service Victoria CEO set out in section 15(b), (d) or (g).
(2)Without limiting subsection (1), an agreement under that subsection may provide for the following—
(a)fees or charges payable by the non‑government entity for services provided to the non-government entity for the purposes of enabling it to perform the relevant function;
(b)arrangements for the joint performance of the relevant function by the non‑government entity and the Service Victoria CEO;
(c)the performance by the non‑government entity of functions that are ancillary to the relevant function.
(3)On the coming into force of an agreement under subsection (1), either the Service Victoria CEO or the non-government entity or both (as appropriate) may perform the relevant function for or on behalf of a relevant service agency or the Service Victoria CEO (as appropriate).
(4)Subsection (3) applies despite anything to the contrary in the law (if any) that confers the relevant function on the service agency.
(5)In this section—
relevant function means a function, or part of a function, that is the subject of an agreement under subsection (1).".
16Performance of identity verification functions from other jurisdictions by agreement
(1)After section 14B(1) of the Principal Act insert—
"(1A)Without limiting subsection (1), an agreement under that subsection may provide for the Service Victoria CEO to charge the non-Victorian government agency for services provided by, or on behalf of, the Service Victoria CEO in the performance of the identity verification function.".
(2)In section 14B(3) of the Principal Act, for "Subsection (2) applies" substitute "Subsections (1A) and (2) apply".
17Performance of identity verification functions by agreement
Section 14A(4) of the Principal Act is repealed.
PART 6—IDENTITY VERIFICATION AND ELECTRONIC IDENTITY CREDENTIALS
18Definitions
(1)In section 3 of the Principal Act, for the definition of electronic identity credential substitute—
"electronic identity credential means an electronic identity credential issued by the Service Victoria CEO in accordance with the identity verification standards;".
(2)In section 3 of the Principal Act, the definitions of ongoing electronic identity credential and temporary electronic identity credential are repealed.
19Divisions 1 and 2 of Part 6 repealed
Divisions 1 and 2 of Part 6 of the Principal Act are repealed.
20Minister may make identity verification standards
After section 41(2)(c) of the Principal Act insert—
"(ca)the process for the application for an electronic identity credential;
(cb)the process for issuing and refusing to issue electronic identity credentials;
(cc)the process for the renewal, suspension and cancellation of electronic identity credentials;".
21Guiding principles for making and use of identity verification standards
For section 42(a) of the Principal Act substitute—
"(a)user choice—individuals are to be able to choose whether to store a record of an electronic identity credential for future use;".
22Section 43 substituted
For section 43 of the Principal Act substitute—
"43 Service Victoria CEO to use identity verification standards
(1)The Service Victoria CEO must use the identity verification standards—
(a)when verifying identity; and
(b)when performing a function under this Part.
(2)The requirements of an identity verification function to obtain information relating to an individual's identity or to verify an individual's identity are met if the Service Victoria CEO, when performing the identity verification function for or on behalf of a service agency, non-Victorian government agency or non-government entity—
(a)issues an electronic identity credential to the individual in accordance with the identity verification standards; and
(b)notifies the agency or entity of the issue of the electronic identity credential.
(3)Subsection (2) applies despite anything to the contrary in the enactment (if any) that confers the identity verification function on a service agency or non-Victorian government agency.".
23False or misleading statement in applications
In section 49 of the Principal Act omit "ongoing" (where twice occurring).
24Reporting requirements
Section 53(3) of the Principal Act is repealed.
PART 7—INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
25Definitions
In section 3 of the Principal Act, the definitions of account information, credential usage history, customer service information and Service Victoria database are repealed.
26Functions of Service Victoria CEO
Section 15(fb) of the Principal Act is repealed.
27Section 17 repealed
Section 17 of the Principal Act is repealed.
28Division 3 of Part 5 repealed
Division 3 of Part 5 of the Principal Act is repealed.
29Division 4 of Part 6 repealed
Division 4 of Part 6 of the Principal Act is repealed.
30Collection, use or disclosure of information in service agency database
(1)In section 47C(1) of the Principal Act, for "The Service" substitute "Without affecting any other power or obligation of the Service Victoria CEO to use or disclose information, the Service".
(2)Section 47C(2) of the Principal Act is repealed.
31Section 47F repealed
Section 47F of the Principal Act is repealed.
32Section 54 substituted
For section 54 of the Principal Act substitute—
"54 Use and disclosure of information by Service Victoria CEO
(1)This section does not affect any use or disclosure of information that would otherwise be permitted by or under any Act or law.
(2)The Service Victoria CEO may disclose regulated information—
(a)for the purposes of performing a function under this Act—
(i)to the entity to which the information relates; or
(ii)to the entity on behalf of which the Service Victoria CEO is performing the function; or
(iii)in the case of a function conferred by an enactment or a law on a service agency or non-Victorian government agency, to any entity to which that agency may disclose the information under the enactment or law that confers the function on the agency; or
(b)with the consent, whether express or implied, of—
(i)the entity to which the information relates; or
(ii)the entity that provided the information to the Service Victoria CEO; or
(c)to a prescribed entity for a prescribed purpose.".
33Regulations
After section 58(3) of the Principal Act insert—
"(4)The Minister must not recommend to the Governor in Council the making of a regulation for the purposes of section 54(2)—
(a)prescribing an entity as an entity to which the Service Victoria CEO may disclose regulated information; or
(b)prescribing a purpose as a purpose for which the Service Victoria CEO may disclose regulated information—
unless the Minister has consulted the Information Commissioner on the proposed regulation.".
PART 8—REPEAL OF THIS ACT
34Repeal of this Act
This Act is repealed on 1 July 2026.
Note
The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
═════════════
ENDNOTES
1 General information
See for Victorian Bills, Acts and current authorised versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.
Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Assembly: 29 November 2023
Legislative Council: 8 February 2024
The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the Service Victoria Act 2018 to provide for further powers of the Service Victoria CEO and to provide for the delivery of services by or with non‑government entities and for other purposes. "
0
0
0