EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
STATUTORY RULES 1985 NO. 310
COMMONWEALTH EMPLOYEES (REDEPLOYMENT AND RETIREMENT) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Issued with the authority of the Public Service Board
Sub-section 29(1) of the Commonwealth Employees (Redeployment and Retirement) Act 1979 (the Act) enables the Governor-General to make regulations prescribing all matters which are required or permitted to be prescribed.
The Act applies to officers and employees under the Public Service Act 1922 and to staff of prescribed Commonwealth authorities. Sub-section 3(1) of the Act defines ‘prescribed Commonwealth authority’ to mean, insofar as is relevant, an authority or other body that is declared by the regulations to be a prescribed Commonwealth authority for the purpose of the Act, being -
‘(a) a body corporate incorporated, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, for a public purpose by an Act, regulations made under an Act or a law of a Territory (other than the Northern Territory), being a body employing staff otherwise than under the Public Service Act 1922;’
Sub-section 3(3) provides that:
‘Regulations shall not be made for the purposes of the definition of “prescribed Commonwealth authority” in sub-section (1), being regulations that declare an authority or other body to be a prescribed Commonwealth authority for the purposes of this Act, unless the authority or other body has informed the Minister, in writing, that it consents to its being so declared.’
The Health Services Ordinance 1985 amended the Health Commission Ordinance 1975 by, amongst other things, replacing the Capital Territory Health Commission with the Australian Capital Territory Health Authority. The Capital Territory Health Commission was a ‘prescribed commonwealth authority’ within the meaning of sub-section 3(1) of the Act. The Commission was prescibed as a Commonwealth authority by regulation 2A of the Commonwealth Employees (Redeployment and Retirement) Regulations.
The regulations omit the Capital Territory Health Commission from the list of statutory authorities which the regulations declare to be ‘prescribed Commonwealth authorities’ for the purposes of the Act and substitute the Australian Capital Territory Health Authority. The Authority is a body
corporate incorporated for public purposes under a law of a Territory and employs staff otherwise than under the Public Servant Act.
In order to make Commonwealth Employees (Redeployment and Retirement) Act coverage of the staff of the two bodies continuous the regulations were deemed to have come into operation on 19 February 1985 being the day on which the Authority replaced the Commission pursuant to the Health Services Ordinance 1985.
In accordance with the requirements of sub-section 3(3) of the Act the Authority has informed the Minister for Finance, in writing, that it consents to being declared as a prescribed Commonwealth authority for the purposes of the Act.