This memorandum explains arrangements regarding the staged repeal of statutory rules.

As you will be aware, the Subordinate Legislation Act provides for the staged repeal of regulations on 1 September each year. These regulations may:

• be remade with major or minor amendments;
• be allowed to lapse; or
• have their repeal postponed.

Postponement of repeal is intended to be restricted to exceptional cases only. In the past, postponement has frequently been requested where a review of the principal Act or the scheme which the regulation implements is currently being or about to be undertaken. Some of these reviews have not had a definite timeframe. In future, where such a review is expected to take longer than 12 months, the regulations should be remade rather than their repeal being postponed. Further, as a general rule, a request for postponement of repeal on the basis of a proposal for amendment or repeal of the principal Act should only be made if that proposal has been approved by Cabinet. An exception may be made, however, for regulations which are so lengthy and complex that it would be impractical to remake them if they were only to remain in force for a limited period.

Postponement will not be granted in cases where agencies have simply failed to take sufficiently early action to enable them to remake a regulation and fulfil the Regulatory Impact Statement requirements before 1 September. In order to ensure that such situations do not occur, the Parliamentary Counsel has written to agencies requesting that his Office be notified by 1 November each year of Ministers' intentions with respect to those regulations within their administrations that are due for repeal on 1 September the following year. This will leave sufficient time for initial drafts of new instruments to be completed by 1 April, so that the Regulatory Impact Statement and public consultation requirements of the Subordinate Legislation Act can be fulfilled before 1 September.

If any agencies within your administration have not yet contacted the Parliamentary Counsel's Office regarding regulations due for repeal on 1 September 1995, they should do so as soon as possible.

John Fahey,
Premier.