6.17 Expiry of subordinate legislation
The Statutory Instruments Act 1992, section 54 provides for subordinate legislation to expire on the 1 September first occurring after the tenth anniversary of its making. This is designed:
- to reduce substantially the regulatory burden without compromising law and order and essential economic, environmental and social objectives
- to ensure subordinate legislation is relevant to the economic, social and general wellbeing of Queensland
- to otherwise ensure the part of the Statute Book consisting of subordinate legislation is of the highest standard.
The Statutory Instruments Act 1992, sections 56 and 56A set out grounds for the limited exemption of subordinate legislation from expiry. Subordinate legislation may be exempted from expiry for periods of not more than one year if:
- replacement subordinate legislation is being drafted
- the subordinate legislation is not proposed to be replaced when it expires at the end of the exemption period
- the empowering Act is subject to review.
Subordinate legislation that is substantially uniform or complementary with legislation of the Commonwealth or another State may be exempted from expiry for periods of not more than five years.
The Statutory Instruments Act 1992, section 57 states the expiry provisions do not apply to particular subordinate legislation that requires a resolution of the Legislative Assembly before it may be repealed or before the status of land to which it applies may be changed. Also, the expiry provisions do not apply to other important subordinate legislation specifically identified in the Act.
OQPC gives affected departments at least 1 year’s notice of the impending expiry of subordinate legislation and the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, as the administering agency, coordinates any required amendments to the Statutory Instruments Regulation 2012 to exempt relevant subordinate legislation from expiry (Statutory Instruments Act 1992, section 55).
