What to look out for this Parliamentary sitting week #auspol

The Senate and the House will return on Tuesday 3 August 2021 over three days for the first of four sitting weeks this month.

It will be a very slimmed down version of Parliament with a number of MP’s and Senators currently located in COVID-19 hotspots and unable to attend. COVID-19 precautions have been taken in Parliament House with only a few essential staff granted access to attend proceedings.

Main topics listed for debate in the both the House and Senate focus on the Economic Response to the pandemic and the implementation of Budget Measures.

Early and Higher Education reforms as well as Financial Regulation are also on the Government’s agenda.

House of Representatives:

Tuesday

• The House will return at midday with just one bill listed for debate, the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2). This bill seeks to amend income tax law to extend the concessional tax treatment of payments received by eligible businesses under eligible COVID-19 recovery grant programs administered by a State or Territory Government.

Wednesday

• The House will resume debate on the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response) which implements findings from the Royal Commission into the Banking and Finance Sector. The bill implements a number of measures to better regulate financial advisors including the expanding the roles of the Financial Services and Credit Panel.
• This will be followed by debate on the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Subsidy) which removes the annual child care subsidy cap so there is no longer a limit on the amount that parents, over a specified income can receive each year. This bill also increases the maximum subsidy for subsequent children under 6 years of age.
• The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Titles Administration and Other Measures) is being introduced with the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) to tighten the regulations around greenhouse gas storage.
• This will be followed by a suite of bills updating fees, other levies and definitions in previous acts regarding overseas students. These bills are The Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment, Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Amendment, Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Cost Recovery and Other Measures) and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment.

?Thursday:

• Thursday morning will commence with the Prime Minister’s Commonwealth Closing the Gap Implementation Plan speech.
• Following this, debate will commence on Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 5). This bill seeks to implement a number of measures to provide tax incentives to the screen industry.
• The final bill to be debated for the week is the Industry Research and Development Amendment (Industry Innovation and Science Australia). This bill renames Industry and Innovation Australia to Industry Innovation and Science Australia.

The Senate:

Tuesday:

• Debate will commence on the?Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges)?and?the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Amendment (Cost Recovery)?which seeks to establish a new registered higher education provider charge to recover the costs of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency’s (TEQSA) sector risk monitoring and regulatory oversight activities.
• This will be followed by debate on the Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response—Better Advice) Bill 2021. This bill implements several measures to better regulate financial advisors including the expanding the roles of the Financial Services and Credit Panel.
• The final bill to be debated in the Senate on Tuesday is the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021. This bill makes temporary amendments to the rules relating to meetings of directors, shareholders of companies and members of registered schemes to facilitate the use of electronic technology. The new rules allow meetings to be held virtually, provided that the members as a whole have a reasonable opportunity to participate. They also allow documents relating to the meetings to be provided and signed electronically and minutes to be kept electronically.

Wednesday:

• The Senate will open on Wednesday with debate on the Treasury Laws Amendment (COVID-19 Economic Response No. 2). This bill seeks to amend income tax law to extend the concessional tax treatment of payments received by eligible businesses under eligible COVID-19 recovery grant programs administered by a State or Territory Government.
• This will be followed by debate on the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Subsidy) which removes the annual child care subsidy cap so there is no longer a limit on the amount that parents, over a specified income can receive each year. This bill also increases the maximum subsidy for subsequent children under 6 years of age.
• The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Titles Administration and Other Measures) is being introduced with the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) to tighten the regulations around greenhouse gas storage.

Thursday:

• Thursday will begin with debate on a suite of bills updating fees, other levies and definitions in previous acts regarding overseas students. These bills are The Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration Charges) Amendment, Education Services for Overseas Students (TPS Levies) Amendment, Education Services for Overseas Students Amendment (Cost Recovery and Other Measures) and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Charges) Amendment.
• This will be followed by debate on Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 5). This bill seeks to implement several measures to provide tax incentives to the screen industry.
• ?The National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention Bill 2020?and the?National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2020?establishes a National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention who will examine previous veteran deaths by suicide in order to prevent future deaths.
• Non-controversial legislation that may be heard on Thursday includes the?Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2021, National Health Amendment (Decisions under the Continence Aids Payment Scheme) Bill 2021 and the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 2) Bill 2021

The full list of legislation scheduled in the House and the Senate can be found?here.?