EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Attorney-General
Anti-Terrorism Act (No. 2) 2005
Proclamation
Clause 2 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (No. 2) 2005 (the Act) sets out the commencement date of Item 22 of Schedule 1. Clause 2 states that Item 22 of Schedule 1 commences on a single day to be fixed by Proclamation or, if any of the provision(s) do not commence within the period of 6 months beginning on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent, they commence on the first day after the end of that period. The Act received Royal Assent on 14 December 2005.
The purpose of the Proclamation is to fix 16 February 2006 as the day on which Item 22 of Schedule 1 to the Act commences.
Item 22 of Schedule 1 the Anti-Terrorism Act (No. 2) 2005 inserts a new section 106.3 into the Criminal Code Act 1995 and provides that the amendments made by Schedule 1 to the Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 apply to offences committed whether before or after the commencement of the section.
Schedule 1 to the Anti-Terrorism Act 2005 amends subsections 101.2(3), 101.4(3), 101.5(3), 101.6(2) and 103.1(2) of the Criminal Code Act to clarify that, in a prosecution for a terrorism offence, it is not necessary to identify a particular terrorist act. The amendments make it sufficient for the prosecution to prove that the particular conduct was related to ‘a’ terrorist act, instead of ‘the’ terrorist act.
No consultation was undertaken in relation to the Proclamation.