Committees
Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review
Tabling
Hon Dr Steve Thomas (1:21 pm): I am directed to present the 154th report of the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review titled Education and Care Services National Law Application Bill 2025.
(See paper 672.)
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: The report that I have just tabled advises the house of the findings of the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statute Review inquiry into the Education and Care Services National Law Application Bill 2025. The bill proposes to change Western Australia's implementation of the national scheme on early childhood education and care from corresponding or mirror legislation to applied legislation. The bill proposes to make this transition by repealing the current corresponding act, which sets out the state's current version of the Education and Care Services National Law in its schedule; repealing the current corresponding regulations; applying the national law, which is set out in the Victorian act as an act of Western Australia; and applying the national regulations made by the Education Ministers Meeting under the national law as subsidiary legislation in Western Australia.
The national scheme is underpinned by the National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care 2009 and the national quality framework for early childhood education and care, which was established under the agreement. The agreement has lapsed; however, the framework remains in place as the national framework for regulating early childhood education and care services in all jurisdictions. The framework has operated in Western Australia since 2012. Western Australia is the only participating jurisdiction that implements the framework via corresponding legislation. All other jurisdictions utilise the applied legislation structure. Although the corresponding legislation structure maintains the WA Parliament's sovereignty and lawmaking powers, it can result in a delay in implementing changes to the national law in this state.
The bill was introduced in a similar format in the previous Parliament as the Education and Care Services National Law Application Bill 2024. The committee reported on the 2024 bill in report 148. It found that some provisions within the 2024 bill and the national law would impact upon the Western Australian Parliament's sovereignty and lawmaking powers. The 2024 bill lapsed when the Legislative Council was prorogued prior to the 2025 state election.
This bill is slightly different from the 2024 bill. The most significant difference is the date the national law is to apply as a law of Western Australia. The 2024 bill was to apply the national law as a law of Western Australia as in force on 20 June 2024. In contrast, the application date provided for in this bill is 30 April 2025. Some provisions within the bill and the national law impact upon Western Australia's parliamentary sovereignty and lawmaking powers, and some provisions will temper that impact. In particular, the bill contains a commencement clause that provides that the majority of the bill will commence operation on a date fixed by proclamation, and a clause that will apply the national law as at 30 April 2025 as an act of Western Australia, along with any future amendments to that national law.
The bill contains a tabling requirement and disallowance mechanism for any future amendments to the national law. The bill will apply the national regulations as at a particular date as a law in Western Australia, along with any future amendments to those national regulations. The bill also contains a tabling requirement and disallowance mechanism for any future amendments to the national regulations. The bill includes clauses that will exclude or disapply Western Australian legislation and two Henry VIII clauses—one that will authorise the making of transitional modification regulations and one that will authorise the making of transitional regulations with retrospective effect. The national law contains sections with a Henry VIII effect, sections that apply acts from other jurisdictions and Henry VIII clauses authorising the making of regulations to modify the applied acts from other jurisdictions.
The committee did not identify any parliamentary sovereignty issues in the national regulations. The committee has made 26 findings regarding these parliamentary sovereignty issues for the Legislative Council's consideration during debate on the bill. I commend the report to the house, and there will be a test on it later!
