24
required to report to Parliament on delegated legislation on much the same basis as
the New Zealand Regulations Review Committee. Two grounds are worth noting.
They are that the legislation is inconsistent with principles of justice and fairness or
that it is likely to result in administration and compliance costs that outweigh the
likely benefits sought to be achieved by the legislation.
41
There is a further mechanism in regard to delegated legislation. Section 13 of the
Subordinate Legislation Act requires the Chief Parliamentary Counsel of Victoria
to give a certificate broadly as to the same matters as the scrutiny committee must
consider. The scrutiny committee publishes reports (alert digests) on Bills before the
second reading debate. As well as the formal mechanisms, the Chief Parliamentary
Counsel will raise with the Victorian Government any issues of fundamental
legislative policy not otherwise capable of being resolved. That is also the case in
New Zealand.
42
In the Australian Commonwealth, Bills drafted by the Office of Parliamentary
Counsel (OPC) that raise similar issues to those discussed must be referred to the
Attorney-General’s Department. The issues include whether a provision in a Bill
might discriminate against an individual, infringe civil or political rights, affect
social justice for Aboriginals, Torres Strait Islanders, or South Sea Islanders,
delegate law-making powers, confer administrative discretion that should be
reviewable, allow search, seizure, arrest, detention, or entry onto premises or confer
other coercive powers, provide for the collection, storage, or use of personal
information, confer powers to require production of documents or to question a
person, or remove the privilege against self-incrimination.
43
Bills introduced into the Commonwealth Parliament are examined by a Scrutiny of
Bills Committee against the principles that constitute the Committee’s brief. The
Committee was established in 1981 following a recommendation by the Senate