Responsible Minister duties: The core statutory duty is to ensure the guidelines issued under s 3A are complied with “so far as is reasonably practicable” before subordinate legislation is made (s 4). When a proposed subordinate instrument will impose a significant burden, the responsible Minister must ensure an RIA conforming to Schedule 2 is prepared (s 5(1)) and, if an RIA is necessary, to carry out specified publication and consultation steps before making the instrument (s 5(2)). The Minister must also submit proposed subordinate legislation to Chief Parliamentary Counsel for advice (s 7) and, when forwarding instruments for Governor making or approval, must include Counsel’s advice together with the appropriate certificate(s) specified in s 8.
Secretary duties and decisive powers: The Secretary must determine whether parts of proposed subordinate legislation would impose a significant burden, cost or disadvantage on any sector of the public (s 5(1A)). Once the Secretary makes that determination, it is “conclusive” under the Act (s 5(1C)). If an RIA is necessary, the Secretary must provide a certificate to the responsible Minister certifying that the RIA complies with Schedule 2 and that proposed consultation is appropriate; the responsible Minister must not undertake the consultation steps in s 5(2) before obtaining that certificate (s 5(1D); s 5(2A)). Under s 6(a) the Secretary may certify in writing that proposed subordinate legislation concerns matters listed in Part 1 of Schedule 3 or falls within categories in Part 2, thereby making compliance with ss 4 and 5 unnecessary in those cases.
Right to rely on Secretary certificates: Responsible Ministers obtain a statutory, documentable right to proceed in reliance on the Secretary’s certificate that an RIA complies with Schedule 2 and that consultation proposed is appropriate (s 5(1D)). The Secretary’s determinations themselves are conclusive (s 5(1C)). The Act does not, within its text, provide for appeal against those certificates.
Publication and consultation duties: Where an RIA is required, the responsible Minister must publish a notice in the Gazette and in at least three daily newspapers circulated throughout Tasmania, stating objects, where to obtain the RIA and proposed subordinate legislation, and inviting submissions for not less than 21 days (s 5(2)(a)(i)-(iv)). The Minister must also consult with appropriate representatives of consumers, the public, relevant interest groups and affected sectors, and consider all comments and submissions received (s 5(2)(b)-(c)). The extent of consultation must be commensurate with the likely impact (s 5(3)).
Chief Parliamentary Counsel duties: Proposed subordinate legislation must be submitted to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel for advice as to whether it appears to be within the powers conferred by the relevant Act, whether it appears to have retrospective effect or to impose penalties without clear authority, whether it sub‑delegates powers, whether it is within the Act’s objectives, and whether it is expressed with clarity (s 7). The advice must be submitted with the instrument when presented for making, approval or consent by the Governor (s 8).
Post‑making reporting duty: After subordinate legislation is made, the responsible Minister must send to the Subordinate Legislation Committee the Chief Parliamentary Counsel’s advice and the applicable certificate within seven days of publication in the Gazette or seven days of making if not required to be published (s 9(1A)-(2)). If an RIA was prepared, copies of the RIA and of comments/submissions, if any, must accompany the materials sent to the Committee (s 9(1A)(c)(i)-(ii)).
Staged repeal and Governor powers: The Act imposes a duty to track lifetime and expiry: subordinate legislation made on or after the Act’s commencement is repealed on the tenth anniversary of the date it was made (s 11(2)). The Governor may postpone a scheduled repeal date by order up to 12 months where the order is made before the scheduled repeal date (s 11(5)-(6)).
Validity and limits: The Act expressly provides that non‑compliance with the procedural obligations in Part 2 does not affect the validity of subordinate legislation (s 10(1)). Additionally, the Part’s requirements are stated to be in addition to any requirements in other Acts (s 10(2)). The Act therefore grants de jure validity to instruments made despite procedural failures under this Act.
Regulatory rights: The Act gives the Treasurer power to issue and rescind guidelines and to declare instruments to be subordinate legislation (ss 3A and 3(2)). It also provides the Treasurer with a discretionary power to depart from Parts 4-5 requirements in “special circumstances” where the Treasurer certifies that the public interest requires making subordinate legislation without complying with ss 4 and 5 (s 6(b)).
Exemption rights: Entities can be excluded from the RIA/guideline regime where the Secretary certifies the instrument falls into Schedule 3 categories (s 6(a)), where the Treasurer so certifies in special circumstances (s 6(b)), or where the instrument concerns Government Business Enterprise commercial operations and the Secretary so certifies (s 6(c)). Schedule 3 lists categories such as corrections, transitional matters, adoptions of standards where costs were already assessed, and some fee adjustments linked to the Consumer Price Index.
Procedural discretion versus judicial consequences: The Secretary’s determinations are statutorily “conclusive” (s 5(1C)) and the Act declares procedural non‑compliance does not affect validity (s 10(1)). Those features embed administrative finality in parts of the regime. The Act does not explicitly provide a private right to review Secretary determinations or to seek invalidation of subordinate legislation on the basis of non‑compliance with ss 4-5.