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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Australian Tourist Commission Amendment
Bill 1999
Date Introduced: 23 June 1999
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Sport and Tourism
Commencement: Royal Assent
To amend the
objects of the Australian Tourist Commission under the
Australian Tourist Commission Act 1987. The Commission
will be required to have regard to the principles of ecologically
sustainable development and the social impact of international
tourism in Australia.
The Australian Tourist Commission Act
1987 (ATC Act) ensures the continuation of the Australian
Tourist Commission (the Commission), which was established by an
earlier Act.(1) The main objects of the Commission are set out in
section 6 of the ATC Act:
-
- to increase the number of overseas visitors to Australia
-
- to maximise the benefits to Australia from overseas visitors,
and
-
- to ensure that Australia is protected from adverse
environmental and social impacts of international tourism.
In 1997, the Australian National Audit Office
(ANAO) undertook a performance audit of the Commission. The Report,
titled Aspects of Corporate Governance - The Australian Tourist
Commission, concluded that the Commission:
is currently unable to demonstrate that it is
fully meeting all of its statutory objectives; this applies
particularly to the objective of ensuring 'that Australia is
protected from adverse environmental and social impacts of
tourism...'(2)
Although the ANAO Report acknowledged that the
Commission has no regulatory powers or authority to ensure
the protection of the environment and society from the impact of
tourism, it stated that:
However, the ATC does have a statutory
responsibility in this area which it can perform, that is to
'closely monitor and report the effects of international tourism on
Australia's natural environment and society'.(3)
ANAO concluded that one of the main challenges
for the Commission was to ensure that strategies reflecting this
objective were implemented in its planning framework.(4)
In its Review of the Auditor-General's
Reports 1997-98 for the First Quarter, the Joint Committee of
Public Accounts and Audit noted that:
The Committee appreciates that the lack of
regulatory power is hampering the ATC from meeting this objective.
The Committee believes that the ATC's ability will be strengthened
by the rewriting of this clause in the Australian Tourist
Commission Act 1987.(5)
The Committee recommended that the Commission's
Board should propose to the Minister for Sport and Tourism that the
statutory objective in paragraph 6(c) of the ATC Act should be
amended to clarify the Commission's role.(6) The Australian Tourism
Commission Amendment Bill 1999 implements this recommendation.
Item 1 of Schedule 1 amends paragraph 6(c) of
the ATC Act so that the Commission will not be required to ensure
that Australia is protected from adverse environmental and social
impacts of international tourism. Proposed paragraph
6(c) requires the Commission to work with other agencies
to meet its objects. The Commission will be required to have regard
to the principles of ecologically sustainable development and the
social impacts of international tourism in Australia.
The definition of ecologically sustainable
development adopted is set out in subsection 21(3) of the
Natural Heritage Trust Act 1997 and includes the following
core objectives:
-
- to enhance individual and community well-being and welfare by
following a path of economic development that safeguards the
welfare of future generations
-
- to provide for equity within and between generations
-
- to protect biological diversity and maintain essential
ecological processes and life-support systems.
The Productivity Commission in a recent report,
Implementation of Ecologically Sustainable Development by
Commonwealth Departments and Agencies - Draft Report,
identified poor coordination between government agencies as an
impediment to the implementation of the principles of ecologically
sustainable development.(7) The amended objectives should help to
overcome any coordination failure in relation to the work of the
Australian Tourist Commission.
-
- Section 5 of the Australian Tourist Commission Act
1987.
- Aspects of Corporate Governance - The Australian
Tourist Commission, Australian National Audit Office, 1997, p.
xv.
- Ibid p. 30.
- Ibid. p. 20.
- Review of the Auditor-General's Reports 1997-98 for
the First Quarter, Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit,
Report 361, June 1998, p. 32.
- Ibid.
- Implementation of Ecologically Sustainable Development by
Commonwealth Departments and Agencies - Draft Report,
Productivity Commission, February 1999, http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiry/esd/draftrep/index.html,
p. 15.
Fiona Walker
11 August 1999
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1999
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