EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Minister for Finance and Deregulation
Judges and Governors-General Legislation Amendment (Family Law) Act 2012
Proclamation
Item 2 of subsection 2(1) of the Judges and Governors-General Legislation Amendment (Family Law) Act 2012 (the Act) provides for Schedules 1 and 2 to the Act to commence on a day or days to be fixed by Proclamation.
Item 2 of subsection 2(1) of the Act also provides that if any of the provisions in Schedules 1 and 2 do not commence within the period of six months beginning on the day on which the Act receives the Royal Assent, they commence on the day after the end of that period.
The Act received the Royal Assent on 11 October 2012.
The purpose of the Proclamation is to fix 15 March 2013 as the day on which Schedules 1 and 2 commence.
Schedule 1 amends the Judges’ Pensions Act 1968 and Schedule 2 amends the Governor-General Act 1974.
The amendments in Schedules 1 and 2 will allow the superannuation benefits for Judges and Governors-General to be split with a former spouse in the event of a marital or relationship breakdown, at a time a superannuation splitting agreement or order is made. A former spouse will be able to receive his or her share of the benefit at this time, rather than payment of the benefit being linked to the retirement of the Judge or Governor-General and being ceased upon their death. These arrangements will give certainty to both parties in property settlement negotiations and will provide each party with their own separate benefit at the time of the split.
The Act specifies no conditions that need to be satisfied before the Proclamation is made.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. Since the Proclamation provides solely for the commencement of legislative provisions, it is exempt from disallowance and sunsetting provisions under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
A Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights was prepared for the Act, and therefore an additional Statement is not required for the Proclamation.
The Department of Finance and Deregulation consulted with the Attorney-General’s Department in the development of the Act and the Proclamation.