Commonwealth Numbered Acts

SNOWY MOUNTAINS ENGINEERING CORPORATION AMENDMENT ACT 1985 No. 101, 1985 - SECT 8

8. Parts IV, V and VI of the Principal Act are repealed and the following
Parts are substituted:

"PART IV-SNOWY MOUNTAINS ENGINEERING CORPORATION BOARD Establishment of Board

"19. There is established by this section a Snowy Mountains Engineering
Corporation Board. Functions of Board

"20. (1) Subject to sub-section 17 (3), the business and other affairs of the
Corporation shall be conducted and controlled by the Board and the policy of
the Corporation with respect to any matter shall be determined by the Board.

"(2) All acts and things done in the name of, or on behalf of, the Corporation
by the Board, or with the authority of the Board, shall be deemed to have been
done by the Corporation. Membership of Board

"21. (1) The Board shall consist of-

   (a)  the Chairperson;

   (b)  the Managing Director; and

   (c)  3 other Directors.

"(2) The Chairperson may be referred to as the Chairman or Chairwoman, as the
case requires.

"(3) The Chairperson and the Directors referred to in paragraph (1) (c) shall
be appointed by the Governor-General, and shall be so appointed as part-time
Directors.

"(4) A part-time Director shall hold office for such period, not exceeding 3
years, as the Governor-General specifies in the instrument of appointment.

"(5) A part-time Director is eligible for re-appointment.

"(6) The performance of the functions, or the exercise of the powers, of the
Board is not affected by reason of any vacancy or vacancies in the membership
of the Board. Policy to be notified to Minister

"22. The Board shall keep the Minister informed of the decisions of the Board
with respect to matters of policy in relation to the performance of the
functions of the Corporation. Delegation by Board

"23. (1) The Board may, by resolution, either generally or as otherwise
provided by the resolution, delegate to a person any of its powers under this
Act, other than this power of delegation.

"(2) A power so delegated, when exercised by the delegate, shall, for the
purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been exercised by the Board.

"(3) A delegation of a power under this section-

   (a)  may be revoked by resolution of the Board (whether or not constituted
        by the persons constituting the Board at the time the power was
        delegated);

   (b)  does not prevent the exercise of the power by the Board; and

   (c)  continues in force notwithstanding a change in the membership of the
        Board.



"(4) Section 34A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 applies in relation to a
delegation under this section as if the Board were a person.

"(5) A certificate signed by the Chairperson stating any matter with respect
to a delegation of a power under this section is prima facie evidence of that
matter.

"(6) A document purporting to be a certificate mentioned in sub-section (5)
shall, unless the contrary is established, be deemed to be such a certificate
and to have been duly given. Remuneration and allowances

"24. (1) A part-time Director shall be paid such remuneration as is determined
by the Remuneration Tribunal.

"(2) A part-time Director shall be paid such allowances as are prescribed.

"(3) This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunals Act 1973.
Resignation

"25. A part-time Director may resign by instrument in writing delivered to the
Minister. Disclosure of interests

"26. (1) A Director who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a
matter being considered or about to be considered by the Board shall, as soon
as possible after the relevant facts have come to his or her knowledge,
disclose the nature of the interest at a meeting of the Board.

"(2) A disclosure under sub-section (1) shall be recorded in the minutes of
the meeting of the Board and the Director shall not, without the approval of
the Minister-

   (a)  be present during any deliberation of the Board with respect to that
        matter; or

   (b)  take part in any decision of the Board with respect to that matter.

Termination of appointment

"27. (1) The Governor-General may terminate the appointment of a part-time
Director for misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.

"(2) If a part-time Director-

   (a)  becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of any law for the
        relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or her
        creditors or makes an assignment of his or her remuneration for their
        benefit;

   (b)  is absent, except with the permission of the Minister, from 3
        consecutive meetings of the Board; or

   (c)  fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with his or her
        obligations under section 26, the Governor-General shall, by notice in
        writing published in the Gazette , declare that the office of that
        Director is vacant, and thereupon the office shall be deemed to be
        vacant. Acting appointments

"28. (1) The Minister may appoint a person to act as Chairperson-

   (a)  during a vacancy in the office of Chairperson, whether or not an
        appointment has previously been made to the office; or

   (b)  during any period, or during all periods, when the Chairperson is
        absent from duty or from Australia or is, for any other reason, unable
        to perform the duties of the office of Chairperson, but a person
        appointed to act during a vacancy shall not continue so to act for
        more than 12 months.

"(2) The Minister may appoint a person to act as a part-time Director-

   (a)  during a vacancy in the office of the Director, whether or not an
        appointment has previously been made to the office; or

   (b)  during any period, or during all periods, when the Director is absent
        from duty or from Australia or is, for any other reason (including the
        reason that the Director is acting as Chairperson), unable to perform
        the duties of the office of Director, but a person appointed to act
        during a vacancy shall not continue so to act for more than 12 months.

"(3) While a person is acting in an office under this section, the person has
and may exercise all the powers, and shall perform all the functions, of the
office.

"(4) An appointment of a person under sub-section (1) or (2) may be expressed
to have effect only in such circumstances as are specified in the instrument
of appointment.

"(5) The Minister may-

   (a)  determine the terms and conditions of appointment, including
        remuneration and allowances, of a person acting under this section;
        and

   (b)  terminate such an appointment at any time.



"(6) Where a person is acting in an office under paragraph (1) (b) or (2) (b)
and the office becomes vacant while the person is so acting, then, subject to
sub-section (4), the person may continue so to act until the Minister
otherwise directs, the vacancy is filled or a period of 12 months from the
date on which the vacancy occurred expires, whichever first happens.

"(7) The appointment of a person under this section ceases to have effect if
the person resigns the appointment by instrument in writing delivered to the
Minister.

"(8) The Managing Director is not eligible for appointment under this section.

"(9) The validity of anything done by a person purporting to act under this
section shall not be called in question on the ground that the occasion for
the person's appointment had not arisen, that there was a defect or
irregularity in or in connection with the appointment, that the appointment
had ceased to have effect or that the occasion for the person to act had not
arisen or had ceased. Meetings of Board

"29. (1) The Chairperson shall convene such meetings of the Board as are
necessary for the performance of its functions.

"(2) At a meeting of the Board the Chairperson shall preside but, if he or she
is not present, the Directors present shall elect one of their number to
preside.

"(3) At a meeting of the Board-

   (a)  3 Directors constitute a quorum;

   (b)  questions arising shall be determined by a majority of the votes of
        the Directors present and voting; and

   (c)  the Director presiding has a deliberative vote and, in the event of
        the equality of votes, also has a casting vote.

                    "PART  V-MANAGING  DIRECTOR  AND  STAFF


"Division 1-Managing Director Managing Director

"30. There shall be a Managing Director of the Corporation. Duty of Managing
Director

"31. The Managing Director shall, under the Board, manage the Corporation.
Appointment and term of office

"32. (1) The Managing Director shall be appointed by the Governor-General.

"(2) A person shall not be appointed as the Managing Director unless he or she
appears to the Governor-General to have experience in matters related to
engineering.

"(3) A person appointed as Managing Director shall hold office for such
period, not exceeding 3 years, as the Governor-General specifies in the
instrument of appointment.

"(4) A person appointed as Managing Director is eligible for re-appointment.

"(5) A person who has attained the age of 65 years shall not be appointed or
re-appointed as Managing Director and a person shall not be appointed or
re-appointed as Managing Director for a period that extends beyond the date on
which he or she will attain the age of 65 years.

"(6) The Managing Director holds office on such terms and conditions (if any)
in respect of matters not provided for by this Act as are determined by the
Governor-General. Managing Director not to engage in other work

"33. The Managing Director shall not engage in paid employment outside the
duties of his or her office except with the approval of the Minister.
Remuneration and allowances

"34. (1) The Managing Director shall be paid such remuneration as is
determined by the Remuneration Tribunal.

"(2) The Managing Director shall be paid such allowances as are prescribed.

"(3) This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunals Act 1973.
Leave of absence

"35. The Chairperson may grant leave of absence to the Managing Director on
such terms and conditions as to remuneration or otherwise as the Chairperson
determines. Resignation

"36. The Managing Director may resign by instrument in writing delivered to
the Minister. Termination of appointment

"37. (1) The Governor-General may terminate the appointment of the Managing
Director for misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.

"(2) If the Managing Director-

   (a)  becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of any law for the
        relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with creditors or
        makes an assignment of remuneration for their benefit;

   (b)  except with the approval of the Minister, engages in paid employment
        outside the duties of his or her office;

   (c)  is absent from duty, except on leave of absence granted by the
        Chairperson for 14 consecutive days or for 28 days in any 12 months;
        or

   (d)  fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with section 26, the
        Governor-General shall, by notice in writing published in the Gazette
        , declare that the office of the Managing Director is vacant, and
        thereupon the office shall be deemed to be vacant. Acting Managing
        Director

"38. (1) The Board may appoint a person (not being a Director or acting
Director) to act as Managing Director-

   (a)  during a vacancy in the office of Managing Director, whether or not an
        appointment has previously been made to the office; or

   (b)  during any period, or during all periods, when the Managing Director
        is absent from duty or from Australia or is, for any other reason,
        unable to perform the functions of the office of Managing Director,
        but a person appointed to act during a vacancy shall not continue so
        to act for more than 12 months.

"(2) An appointment of a person under sub-section (1) may be expressed to have
effect only in such circumstances as are specified in the instrument of
appointment.

"(3) The Board may-

   (a)  determine the terms and conditions of appointment, including
        remuneration and allowances, of a person acting as Managing Director;
        and

   (b)  terminate such an appointment at any time.



"(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3) (a), an officer of the Corporation who is
acting as Managing Director shall continue to be paid the remuneration and
allowances payable to such an officer but shall also be paid-

   (a)  so much of any remuneration payable to the Managing Director as
        exceeds the remuneration that so continues to be paid to the officer;

   (b)  so much of any allowance payable to the Managing Director as exceeds
        the corresponding allowance that so continues to be paid to the
        officer; and

   (c)  if an allowance is payable to the Managing Director in respect of
        which there is no corresponding allowance payable to the officer-that
        allowance.



"(5) Where a person is acting as Managing Director under paragraph (1) (b) and
the office of Managing Director becomes vacant while the person is so acting,
then, subject to sub-section (2), the person may continue so to act until the
Board otherwise directs, the vacancy is filled or a period of 12 months from
the date on which the vacancy occurred expires, whichever first happens.

"(6) The appointment of a person under this section ceases to have effect if
the person resigns the appointment by instrument in writing delivered to the
Chairperson.

"(7) While a person is acting under this section, the person has and may
exercise all the powers, and shall perform all the functions, of the Managing
Director.

"(8) The validity of anything done by a person purporting to act under this
section shall not be called in question on the ground that the occasion for
the person's appointment had not arisen, that there was a defect or
irregularity in or in connection with the appointment, that the appointment
had ceased to have effect or that the occasion for the person to act had not
arisen or had ceased.
                               "Division 2-Staff
Officers and employees

"39. (1) The Corporation may, in Australia or elsewhere, appoint such officers
and engage such employees as the Board thinks necessary for the purposes of
this Act.

"(2) The terms and conditions of employment of persons appointed or engaged
under this section are such as are, subject to the approval of the Public
Service Board, determined by the Board.
                               "PART  VI-FINANCE
Financial policy of Corporation

"40. In the performance of its functions and in the conduct of its business,
the Corporation shall act in accordance with sound commercial principles and
shall pursue a policy directed towards securing, in each financial year,
revenues sufficient-

   (a)  to meet the expenditure, and provision for expenditure, of the
        Corporation properly chargeable to revenue of that year, including
        provision in respect of income tax payable by the Corporation in
        relation to that financial year; and

   (b)  to permit the payment to the Commonwealth of a reasonable return on
        the capital of the Corporation.

Capital of Corporation

"41. (1) The Minister for Finance may make available to the Corporation, out
of moneys appropriated by the Parliament for the purpose, such amounts as are,
in the opinion of the Minister, required by the Corporation.

"(2) The capital of the Corporation at any time is the sum of-

   (a)  any amounts paid to the Corporation under sub-section (1); and

   (b)  any amounts transferred from the General Reserve of the Corporation to
        the capital account of the Corporation in pursuance of directions
        given under sub-section (3), less the sum of any amounts of capital
        repaid to the Commonwealth by the Corporation.

"(3) The Minister may direct the Board to transfer a specified amount from the
General Reserve of the Corporation to the capital account of the Corporation,
and the Board shall comply with such a direction.

"(4) In giving a direction under sub-section (3), the Minister shall have
regard to any advice that the Board has furnished to the Minister in relation
to the financial affairs of the Corporation. Payments to the Commonwealth

"42. (1) Interest is not payable to the Commonwealth on the capital of the
Corporation but the Corporation shall pay to the Commonwealth, out of the
profits of the Corporation for a financial year, such amount as the Minister
determines.

"(2) The capital of the Corporation is repayable to the Commonwealth at such
times and in such amounts as the Minister determines.

"(3) In making a determination under sub-section (1) or (2), the Minister
shall have regard to any advice that the Board has furnished to the Minister
in relation to the financial affairs of the Corporation. Profits of the
Corporation

"43. (1) The profits of the Corporation for a financial year (other than any
amount paid to the Commonwealth in accordance with a determination under
sub-section 42 (1)) shall be applied in such manner as the Minister
determines.

"(2) In making a determination under sub-section (1), the Minister shall have
regard to any advice that the Board has furnished to the Minister in relation
to the financial affairs of the Corporation. Borrowing by the Corporation

"44. (1) The Corporation may, with the approval of the Treasurer, borrow money
that is from time to time necessary for the exercise of its powers or the
performance of its functions under this Act.

"(2) The Minister for Finance may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, out of money
appropriated by the Parliament for the purpose, lend to the Corporation, at
such rate of interest and on such other terms and conditions as that Minister
determines, money that the Corporation is authorized to borrow under
sub-section (1).

"(3) The Corporation may give security over the whole or any part of its
assets for the repayment of amounts borrowed under this section and the
payment of interest on amounts so borrowed.

"(4) The Treasurer may, on behalf of the Commonwealth, guarantee the repayment
by the Corporation of amounts borrowed under this section otherwise than from
the Commonwealth and the payment of interest on amounts so borrowed.

"(5) The Corporation shall not borrow money except in accordance with this
section. Guarantee by the Commonwealth

"45. By force of this section, the Commonwealth guarantees the due payment by
the Corporation of all money (other than money due in respect of money
borrowed under section 44) that is, or may at any time become, payable by the
Corporation to a person other than the Commonwealth. Application of money

"46. The money of the Corporation shall be applied only-

   (a)  in payment or discharge of the costs, expenses and other obligations
        of the Corporation;

   (b)  in payment of remuneration and allowances payable to any person
        appointed or employed under this Act;

   (c)  in making payments in connection with any superannuation scheme
        managed by the Corporation; and

   (d)  in making payments to the Commonwealth as provided by this Act.

Estimates

"47. The Corporation shall prepare estimates, in such form as the Minister
directs, of its receipts and expenditure for each financial year, and, if so
directed by the Minister, for any other period, and shall submit those
estimates to the Minister not later than such date as the Minister directs.
Contracts

"48. (1) Subject to sub-section (2), the Corporation shall not, except with
the approval of the Minister, enter into a contract involving the payment or
receipt by the Corporation of an amount exceeding $500,000 or, if a higher
amount is prescribed, that higher amount.

"(2) Sub-section (1) does not apply to-

   (a)  a contract with a client of the Corporation; or

   (b)  a contract for obtaining assets or services that are intended to be
        charged to a client of the Corporation. Application to Corporation of
        Division 2 of Part XI of Audit Act

"49. (1) It is hereby declared that the Corporation is a public authority to
which Division 2 of Part XI of the Audit Act 1901 applies.

"(2) For the purposes of the application of that Division by virtue of
sub-section (1), references in that Division to the appropriate Minister shall
be read as references to the Minister administering this Act. Liability to
taxation

"50. (1) The Corporation is subject to taxation under the laws of the
Commonwealth and to such other taxation as the Minister specifies.

"(2) The Corporation is not a public authority for the purposes of paragraph
23 (d) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.
                           "PART  VII-MISCELLANEOUS
Reports to Minister

"51. The Board shall-

   (a)  at such times as it thinks fit, and at such other times as the
        Minister directs, inform the Minister concerning the general conduct
        of the operations of the Corporation; and

   (b)  furnish to the Minister such information relating to those operations,
        and such information relating to operations to be carried out in the
        future, as the Minister requires.

Annual report to include Minister's directions, &c.

"52. The annual report submitted to the Minister under section 63H of the
Audit Act 1901 as applied by this Act shall include-

   (a)  all directions given by the Minister to the Corporation under
        sub-sections 17 (3) and 41 (3);

   (b)  all determinations made by the Minister under sub-sections 42 (1) and
        (2) and 43 (1); and

   (c)  a report on the operations of any partnership or company in the
        formation of which the Corporation has joined, during the year to
        which the report relates. Validity of contracts and guarantees

"53. Without prejudice to the duty of the Corporation to comply with the
provisions of this Act and to observe the limits of its powers under this Act,
a contract entered into, or a guarantee given, by the Corporation is not
invalidated by reason of a provision of this Act not having been complied with
by the Corporation in relation to the contract or guarantee or by reason of
the contract or guarantee not being within those limits. Delegation by
Minister

"54. (1) The Minister may, either generally or as otherwise provided by the
instrument of delegation, by instrument in writing, delegate to a person any
of his or her powers under this Act, other than this power of delegation.

"(2) A power so delegated, when exercised by the delegate, shall, for the
purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been exercised by the Minister.

"(3) A delegation under this section does not prevent the exercise of a power
by the Minister. Regulations

"55. The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing matters-

   (a)  required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or

   (b)  necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving
        effect to this Act.".