ACT Temporary Order Powers for Magistrates Regarding Treatment Order Breaches

Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (No 2)

12 Sep 2025: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Share this bill

Email Facebook X Bluesky

Topics

aged care housing criminal records data protection privacy rental market residential property spent convictions swimming pool safety

Introduced by: The Hon Tara Cheyne MLA (ALP) — Attorney-General, Minister , Minister for City and Government Services, Minister for Human Rights, Minister for the Night-Time Economy

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The Magistrates Court can make temporary orders for offenders who breach treatment order obligations; this includes issuing warnings or cancelling a suspended prison sentence.
The Magistrates Court must give written notice of these temporary orders to the offender and the treatment order team.
Spent convictions are now considered irrelevant criminal records; they cannot be used for discrimination unless the offence is directly relevant to the situation.
Parties who agree to a privacy complaint conciliation must attend; failing to attend without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence.
The Information Privacy Commissioner can only use information from a conciliation agreement if the parties agree to it.
The Residential Tenancies Act no longer applies to accommodation provided by registered providers under the Aged Care Act 2024 (Cwlth).
Sellers of residential property must provide prescribed documents if the premises have a regulated swimming pool.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Tara Cheyne ALP

“I move: That this bill be agreed to in principle. I am pleased to present this bill to the Assembly. It is a bill that makes amendments across 12 pieces of legislation to improve their operation.”

Official source →

Ed Cocks LIB

“The Canberra Liberals will be supporting this bill. This omnibus bill makes a number of sensible minor, technical and drafting amendments to numerous acts. I note that the scrutiny committee has examined this bill and the minister has responded. We have no concerns. The amendment to the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 appears to be sensible.”

Official source →

Shane Rattenbury GRN

“The Greens will also be supporting the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (No 2). As an omnibus bill, this bill amends many pieces of legislation to improve the ACT’s justice andcommunitysafetylegislationandfacilitatesthepracticaloperationsofjusticesector agencies.”

Official source →

Elizabeth Lee LIB

“I will speak briefly on this bill, specifically as it relates to the amendments to the posting termination clause in the Residential Tenancies Act 1997.”

Official source →