EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Regulations (Amendment)
Statutory Rules 1986 No. 181. Issued by the Authority of the Minister of State for Aboriginal Affairs.
Section 78 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (the Act) reads as follows:
The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act and, in particular, prescribing penalties, not exceeding a fine of $200, for offences against the regulations.
Sections 37A and 38 of the Act provide for the audit of accounts, records and financial statements of a Land Council (established pursuant to section 21 of the Act), by a person having the prescribed qualifications.
Section 37A of the Act relates to annual reports by Land Councils, and reads as follows:
(1) A Land Council shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, prepare and furnish to the Minister a report of the operations of the Council during that year, together with financial statements in respect of those statements prepared in accordance with sub-section (2).
(2) Financial statements referred to in sub-section (1) shall be audited by a person having the prescribed qualifications and appointed by the Council for the purpose, who shall report to the Council -
(a) whether the statements are based on proper accounts and records;
(b) whether the statements are in agreement with the accounts and records;
(c) whether the receipt, expenditure and investment of moneys, and the acquisition and disposal of assets, by the Council during the year have been in accordance with this Act; and
(d) as to such other matters arising out of the statements as the person so appointed considers should be reported to the Council.
Section 38 of the Act relates to the audit of financial records, and reads as follows:
(1) The Minister may, at any time, cause a person having the prescribed qualifications to inspect and audit the accounts and records caused to be kept by a Land Council pursuant to section 37 and to furnish to him a report of the results of that inspection and audit drawing attention to any irregularity in the financial affairs of the Council disclosed by that inspection and audit.
(2) The Minister shall, before an inspection and audit under sub-section (1) is commenced, by notice in writing served on the Chairman of the Land Council concerned, inform him that such an inspection and audit will be carried out and name the person whom he has engaged for the purpose.
(3) Where a notice is served on the Chairman of a Land Council under sub-section (2), the Chairman shall inform the Council of his receipt of the notice and, thereupon, the Land Council shall ensure that the person named in the notice or a person authorized by that person has, for the purposes of the inspection and audit referred to in the notice, full and free access to all accounts, records, documents and papers of the Council relevant directly or indirectly to the payment of money by the Council or to the acquisition, receipt, custody or disposal of assets by the Council.
(4) A person named in a notice served under sub-section (2) or a person authorized by him may, for the purpose only of use in the inspection and audit to which the notice related, take copies of, or extracts from, such accounts, records, documents and papers.
In regulations made under the Act, Statutory Rules 1979 No.299, a person having the prescribed qualifications for the purpose of the above sections was a person who is, or is entitled to be, a registered company auditor under the law of a State or Territory.
Statutory Rules 1979 No 299 read as follows:
ABORIGINAL LAND RIGHTS (NORTHERN TERRITORY) REGULATIONS
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Regulations.
2. In these Regulations “the Act” means the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976.
3. For the purposes of sub-sections 37A(2) and 38(1) of the Act, a person having the prescribed qualifications is a person who is, or who is entitled to be, a registered company auditor under the law of a State or Territory.
The Regulations were made by the Governor-General, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, on 20 December 1979, and were notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 24 December 1979.
The new Regulations prescribe different qualifications for the purposes of section 38 than for section 37A. It is envisaged that an inspection and audit carried out under section 38 could on certain occasions be performed by a person having a different standard of qualifications than that now prescribed in the Regulations. Accordingly some flexibility is required in the Regulation relating to a person’s qualifications to carry out an inspection and audit under that section.
The new Regulations amend Statutory Rules 1979 No.299 and provide:
• That for the purposes of sub-section 37A(2) of the Act a person having the prescribed qualifications is a person who is, or who is entitled to be, registered as a company auditor under the law of a State or Territory; and
• That for the purposes of sub-section 38(1) of the Act a person having the prescribed qualifications is a person holding, or who is eligible to hold, provisional or associate membership of the Australian Society of Accountants or associateship or fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia.