Stevedoring Industry Acts (Termination) Act 1977

Who pays, who decides, and who acts (concrete incentives and decision points)

• Payments and funding: the Authority continues to make payments out of its own moneys during the transitional period (ss6, 7). The Act preserves the Authority's obligation to make payments that arose before commencement (for example payments to waterside workers under s31A and payments in respect of deaths under s52B of the Stevedoring Industry Act) (s9). Sections 7, 7B and 7C of the Temporary Provisions Act remain available for certain employer payments (s10).

• Ministerial control: the Minister sets the end of the transitional period by Gazette notice (definition of "transitional period", s3). The Minister can direct the Authority to make payments to the Committee and such directions are binding (s6). Disposals of Authority property above $20,000 require Ministerial approval (s8(2)).

• Administrative oversight and reporting: the Authority must prepare a final operational report and financial statements after the transitional period and submit the statements to the Auditor‑General, who must report on their accuracy and on compliance with the Acts (s16(1)–(2)). The Minister must then lay those documents before both Houses of Parliament (s16(3)).

What behaviour changes and what continuity is preserved

• Behaviour change: the statutory regime that governed stevedoring ceases to operate at commencement except insofar as this Act preserves particular functions and rights for winding down (s4, s5). Operational control and ultimate responsibility for remaining assets and liabilities shift from the Authority to the Committee at the end of the transitional period (s14–15).

• Continuity preserved: pending appeals, objections, compensation claims, liability for prior obligations, and payments that accrued before commencement continue to be dealt with under the former Acts during the transitional period so that rights and liabilities are resolved rather than extinguished (see ss9, 11–13, s5(2)). Contracts survive with the Committee stepping into the Authority's place (s15).

Costs, incentives, compliance burdens and discretion (mechanisms, not judgments)

• Who bears costs: the Authority is the immediate payer of liabilities and obligations arising before commencement (ss6–7, 9–10); after the transitional period the Committee becomes liable for those same duties and debts by operation of law (s14). The Act does not specify new revenue sources; it works through existing Authority moneys and the transfer of assets and liabilities to the Committee (ss6, 8, 14).

• Compliance burdens: the Authority must prepare and furnish a final report and audited financial statements and remain in existence until it fulfils those obligations (s16(1), (4)). The Auditor‑General must audit and report on those statements before they are tabled (s16(2)–(3)).

• Discretion and implementation risk: the Minister has several discretionary levers (fixing the terminating day, directing payments to the Committee, approving significant disposals) that shape the pace and content of the wind‑down (definition of "transitional period", s3; s6; s8(2)). Those levers determine timing, approval of high‑value asset sales and whether the Committee receives funds during the transitional period.

Effects on private parties and contract freedom (how the Act changes private rights)

• Contract continuity and substitution: subsisting contracts remain enforceable but the Committee replaces the Authority as the contractual party after the transitional period (s15). That substitution preserves contractual continuity but transfers counterparty risk and performance obligations to the Committee by operation of the Act.

• Resolution of disputes and claims: pending appeals and objections under the Stevedoring Industry Acts (including registration cancellations/suspensions, attendance money disputes, and medical board objections) continue to be processed under the old Acts so claimants and employers can have those issues decided rather than left unresolved (ss11–13, s5(2)).

Regulatory powers

• The Governor‑General may make regulations necessary to give effect to the Act (s17).

Bottom line (mechanical summary)

• The Act terminates the Stevedoring Industry Acts while building a fixed transitional framework to: (a) continue the Authority for winding down, (b) preserve and complete existing payments, appeals and obligations, (c) allow disposal and transfer of assets and liabilities to the Committee, and (d) produce audited final statements and a report for Parliament. Ministerial directions and approvals, and an Auditor‑General audit, are explicit control points in that process (see ss3–17).