Legislation (Deferral of Sunsetting—Marriage Regulations) Certificate 2016

Administered by Attorney-General's Department

Legislation au F2016L01465 Not in force Legislative Instrument

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Legislation (Deferral of Sunsetting—Marriage Regulations) Certificate 2016

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the Attorney‑General in compliance with section 15G of the Legislation Act 2003
 

INTRODUCTION

This Certificate was made under paragraph 51(1)(c) of the Legislation Act 2003 (the Legislation Act) and is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act.

A certificate issued by the Attorney‑General under subsection 51(1) of the Legislation Act is not subject to disallowance. As such, a statement of compatibility with human rights is not required (Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 section 9).

OUTLINE

The purpose of the sunsetting provisions of the Legislation Act is to ensure that legislative instruments are kept up to date and only remain in force for so long as they are needed.

Paragraph 51(1)(c) enables the Attorney‑General to issue a certificate to defer the sunsetting day for an instrument for a period of six or 12 months. The instrument will then cease to be in force on the day specified in the certificate instead of the scheduled sunsetting day.

This allows instruments to continue to be in force for a further but limited period of time when they would otherwise sunset. This removes the administrative burden of remaking instruments which would have a limited duration prior to their repeal and potential replacement.

PROCESS BEFORE CERTIFICATE WAS MADE

Regulatory impact analysis

Certificates of deferral of sunsetting are machinery of government instruments, and are therefore not subject to the regulatory impact assessment requirements set out by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). The OBPR reference for this standing exemption is ID19633.

Consultation before making

Before this Certificate was issued, the Attorney‑General considered the general obligation to consult imposed by section 17 of the Legislation Act. The Attorney-General is responsible for the Marriage Act 1961, the enabling legislation under which the Regulations were made, under section 6 of the Legislation Act and under the current Administrative Arrangements Order. The Certificate is consistent with the policy intent of the sunsetting arrangements and does not significantly alter existing arrangements. Accordingly, further consultation was unnecessary.

 

 

Statutory preconditions relevant to this Certificate

If the Attorney‑General is satisfied that the statutory conditions in section 51 of the Legislation Act are met, an instrument’s sunsetting day can be deferred for either six or 12 months by means of a certificate made under that section. In terms of process, the Legislation Act requires:

a)      the responsible rule-maker to apply to the Attorney‑General in writing;

b)     the Attorney‑General to be satisfied that the instrument meets the statutory conditions; and

c)      the Attorney‑General to issue a certificate that includes a statement of reasons for the issue of the certificate.

The certificate issued by the Attorney‑General must be laid before each House of Parliament no later than six sitting days after it is made. It is a legislative instrument and must be registered on the Federal Register of Legislation, but is not subject to disallowance (Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015, section 10, item 19).

More information

The detail of the Certificate is provided in Attachment A.

The instrument subject to this Certificate (the Marriage Regulations 1963) is available on the Federal Register of Legislation. Further information about the operation of those Regulations may also be requested from the Attorney-General’s Department.


 

ATTACHMENT A

NOTES ON THE CERTIFICATE

Section 1  Name

This section provides that the Certificate is named the Legislation (Deferral of Sunsetting—Marriage Regulations) Certificate 2016.

Section 2  Commencement

This section provides for the Certificate to commence on the day after it is registered.

Section 3  Authority

This section provides that the Certificate is made under paragraph 51(1)(c) of the Legislation Act 2003 (the Legislation Act)

Section 4  Definitions

This section defines ‘Act’ to mean the Legislation Act, for the purposes of the Certificate.

Section 5  Statement of reasons for issue of certificate

This section provides the statement of reasons required by paragraph 51(2)(a) of the Legislation Act.

The statement of reasons explains why the Attorney‑General is satisfied that the relevant instrument would (apart from the operation of Part 4 of Chapter 3 of the Legislation Act) be likely to cease to be in force within 12 months after the scheduled sunsetting day, as required by subparagraph 51(1)(b)(i) of the Legislation Act.

Section 6  Deferral of sunsetting of the Marriage Regulations 1963

This section provides that the Marriage Regulations 1963, for which the scheduled sunsetting day is 1 April 2017, are taken to cease to be in force under section 51 of the Legislation Act on 1 April 2018.

Section 7  Repeal of this instrument

This section provides that the Certificate is repealed on 2 April 2018.

 

Overview

The Legislation (Deferral of Sunsetting—Marriage Regulations) Certificate 2016 was enacted to address the impending sunsetting of the Marriage Regulations 1963, which were scheduled to cease on 1 April 2017 under the provisions of the Legislation Act 2003. This legislative instrument, issued by the Attorney-General, defers the sunsetting of the Marriage Regulations 1963 for a period of twelve months, allowing them to remain in force until 1 April 2018. This deferral alleviates the administrative burden of remaking the regulations, which would have been necessary had they sunset as scheduled. The policy objective behind this certificate is to ensure that legislative instruments are kept up to date while avoiding unnecessary administrative processes during their limited duration before potential repeal and replacement.

Scope and Application

The Legislation (Deferral of Sunsetting—Marriage Regulations) Certificate 2016 applies to the Marriage Regulations 1963, which are legislative instruments under the control of the Attorney-General. The Certificate extends the sunsetting period of these Regulations by twelve months, thereby allowing them to remain in force until 1 April 2018 instead of their originally scheduled sunsetting date of 1 April 2017. The Attorney-General made this Certificate under paragraph 51(1)(c) of the Legislation Act 2003, exercising the authority to defer the sunsetting of legislative instruments when certain statutory conditions are met. The Certificate does not apply to any other legislative instruments outside of the scope of the Marriage Regulations 1963. It is a Commonwealth legislative instrument and its application is not subject to disallowance. The Certificate includes a statement of reasons explaining why the Attorney-General determined that the Regulations would likely cease to be in force within 12 months of the scheduled sunsetting day, as required by the Legislation Act. The Certificate itself is repealed on 2 April 2018, the day after the Regulations are set to cease under the Certificate.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of this legislation are sections 51 and 52 of the Legislation Act 2003, which provide the legal framework for deferring the sunsetting of the Marriage Regulations 1963. Section 51 allows the Attorney-General to defer the sunsetting of an instrument for six or twelve months by issuing a certificate. Section 52 requires that the certificate include a statement of reasons for the deferral and be laid before each House of Parliament within six sitting days of its issue. This certificate, titled the Legislation (Deferral of Sunsetting—Marriage Regulations) Certificate 2016, specifies that the Marriage Regulations 1963 will cease to be in force on 1 April 2018 instead of the scheduled sunsetting date of 1 April 2017. The obligations and requirements imposed by the Act on the parties or entities it governs primarily concern the Attorney-General and the relevant rule-maker. The rule-maker must apply to the Attorney-General in writing to defer the sunsetting of an instrument, and the Attorney-General must be satisfied that the statutory conditions outlined in section 51 of the Legislation Act are met. The Attorney-General must then issue a certificate that includes a statement of reasons for the issue of the certificate. This certificate must be laid before each House of Parliament no later than six sitting days after it is made and must be registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. The Certificate, which is not subject to disallowance, must also include a statement of reasons for its issue, explaining why the Attorney-General is satisfied that the relevant instrument would cease to be in force within 12 months after the scheduled sunsetting day. Under the Legislation Act, various offences, penalties, or consequences may arise for breaches of the provisions outlined in the Act. However, the Certificate itself does not specify any penalties or consequences for breaches. The general obligations to consult imposed by section 17 of the Legislation Act were considered, but it was determined that further consultation was unnecessary as the Certificate was consistent with the policy intent of the sunsetting arrangements and did not significantly alter existing arrangements. Therefore, the primary focus of this legislation is on the administrative process for deferring the sunsetting of the Marriage Regulations 1963 rather than on specific penalties for breaches.

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.