Bills Digest No. 27 1999-2000
Australian Tourist Commission Amendment Bill 1999
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
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the subsequent official status of the Bill.
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
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1999
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