Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1 January 1974 - 31 December 1978
History
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly was established by the Australian Capital Territory Ordinance No 24 of 1974 under the Seat of Government Act 1910-1973. Sections 1, 2, 14 and 15 of the Ordinance came into operation on 17 July 1974 this being the date of notification of the Ordinance in the Gazette, and the remaining Sections including that which established the Assembly, came into operation on 1 October 1974 (Australian Government Gazette No. 28 of 24 September 1974). The Legislative Assembly replaced the Australian Capital Territory Advisory Council (CA 491).
The Legislative Assembly consists of nine members from each of the two Australian Capital Territory electorates - ie Canberra and Fraser. Election of candidates was held on 28 September 1974 and the results announced on 11 October 1974 (Australian Government Gazette No 83B of 11 October 1974). The candidates elected to represent the Division of Canberra were:
James Willoughby Leedman
Roslyn Joan Kelly
Ian Howard Black
Peter Dalton Hughes
James Harold Pead
Gordon John Walsh
Timothy Randall McGhie
Raymond Francis Sanders
Maureen Gertrude Theresa Worsley
The candidates elected to represent the Division of Fraser were:
Trevor Thomas Kaine
Susan Maree Ryan
Alan Duncan Fraser
Gregory Caine Cornwell
Ronald Peter Vallee
Warren Wilson Lennon
Ivor Francis Vivian
Harold James Hird
Frederick James McCauley
The first meeting of the Legislative Assembly was on 28 October 1974. The representatives are elected to hold office for a period of three years. Collation of valid votes is based on the Australian Senate electoral system of optional preferential-proportional representation. The Chairman of the Assembly has a casting vote, and as for the Australian Senate, a question is resolved in the negative if the vote is tied. Quorum requirements for the Assembly to be constituted, are 10 members of the 18 members to be present when sitting.
An amendment to the ACT Legislative Assembly Ordinance, (Cited in Ordinance 24 of 1974: The Legislative Assembly Ordinance 1936-1974) on 25 September 1974, allowed the Assembly to make its own rules on procedure, as no such authority existed. This was required as debates to Parliamentary standard were to be conducted, unlike the previous representative body the ACT Advisory Council. (CA 491).
The structure of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is designed for formulation of its power through the evaluation process. The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly has no legal function to make or enact laws. Its role under Sections 10 and 14 of the Legislative Assembly Ordinance 1936-1974 is to advise the Minister of State for the Capital Territory in matters relating to the ACT. The Minister of State for the Capital Territory has the right to submit to the Assembly for consideration any proposals for the making, amendment or repeal of any Ordinance. There is no legal requirement for this to be done.
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly has also to reflect on Section 52 of the Constitution of Australia.
"This Parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have exclusive power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth with regard to:-
(1) The Seat of Government of the Commonwealth and all places acquired by the Government for public purposes."
The functions and powers to be delegated to the ACT Legislative Assembly have been reviewed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Capital Territory which was established on 25 November 1969.
On 25 November 1978, a referendum of electors resident in Canberra was held on the subject of self-government for the Australian Capital Territory, excluding Jervis Bay since it "occupied a special place in the range of the Government's responsibilities and the Government did not consider it appropriate that it should be subject to any self- government arrangements which might be made for ACT". (Press Statement, 20/10/78 by the Minister for the Capital Territory, Mr R. Ellicott).
The referendum gave opportunity for preferential voting for two self- government options and one option for no change. One self-government proposal was for the ACT to have similar rights to a State (except for Health and Education and some Attorney-General's functions, to be given to the Territory after 5 years). The other was to give the ACT a body that would, broadly speaking, do only those things that local councils do elsewhere in Australia. In the event, it was decided at the referendum that administration of the ACT should remain unchanged. The House of Assembly Ordinance 1979 which changed the name of the Legislative Assembly to House of Assembly was notified in the Gazette on 23 April 1979. (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No. S71, 23 April 1979). The first election of members to the House of Assembly was held on 2 June 1979.