Bank Holidays Legislation Amendment Act 2002 No 132

An Act to amend the Shops and Industries Act 1962 and the Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912 with respect to the opening of banks on weekends; and for other purposes.

1 Name of Act

This Act is the Bank Holidays Legislation Amendment Act 2002.

2 Commencement

This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

3 Amendment of Shops and Industries Act 1962 No 43

The Shops and Industries Act 1962 is amended as set out in Schedule 1.

4 Amendment of Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912 No 43

The Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912 is amended as set out in Schedule 2.

Schedule 1 Amendment of Shops and Industries Act 1962

(Section 3)

[1] Section 4 Definitions

Omit “, Employment, Training and Further Education” from the definition of Director-General in section 4 (1).

[2] Part 2

Insert after Part 1:

  

Part 2 Opening of banks on weekends

5 Definition

In this Part, bank has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912.

6 Banks may apply to open on weekends

(1)  A bank may apply to the Director-General for approval to open the bank, or one or more branches of the bank, in New South Wales on Saturdays or Sundays, or both, that are declared to be bank holidays under section 15A of the Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912.

(2)  An application is:

(a)  to be made in writing to the Director-General, and

(b)  to be accompanied by such information as the Director-General requires to determine the application, and

(c)  to be accompanied by the fee prescribed by the regulations.

(3)  The Director-General may:

(a)  grant an approval unconditionally or subject to conditions, or

(b)  refuse to grant an approval.

(4)  In determining an application for an approval, the Director-General is to consider whether granting the approval would be in the interests of the public, taking into account the likely effect of granting the approval on particular sections of the public, including customers of the bank concerned in any particular area (whether or not an area the subject of the application) and persons employed or engaged (whether or not by the bank) to perform services for the bank.

(5)  Nothing in subsection (4) limits the matters that the Director-General may consider in determining an application for approval.

(6)  For the purposes of determining an application for approval, the Director-General may request the applicant to provide such further information as the Director-General considers relevant to the determination of the application.

(7)  The Director-General may refuse to grant an approval if the applicant for approval does not comply with a request under subsection (6).

(8)  The Director-General may prepare guidelines relating to the type of information that may be required in connection with an application under this Part.

(9)  In preparing any such guidelines, the Director-General may consult with the banking industry.

(10)  If the Director-General grants an approval, the Director-General must issue the applicant with a written approval that sets out any conditions to which the approval is subject.

(11)  If the Director-General refuses an application for approval, the Director-General must give notice of the refusal in writing to the applicant setting out the reasons for the refusal.

(12)  If the Director-General has not determined an application for approval before the expiration of the period of 40 days after the application was made to the Director-General (or such longer period as the Director-General determines with the consent in writing of the applicant), the Director-General is taken to have made a decision to refuse to grant the approval.

7 Duration of approval

Except during any period of suspension, an approval under this Part remains in force for the period specified in the approval or, if no period is so specified, until the approval is cancelled.

8 Variation, suspension or cancellation of approval

(1)  The Director-General may vary the conditions of, or suspend or cancel, an approval under this Part.

(2)  An approval may be suspended or cancelled only if:

(a)  the bank that holds the approval has contravened a condition of the approval, or

(b)  the Director-General considers that it is no longer in the interests of the public for the approval to remain in force.

(3)  The Director-General may only vary the conditions of, or suspend or cancel, an approval under this Part:

(a)  after having given the bank concerned written reasons for the Director-General’s intention to vary, suspend or cancel and an opportunity to make submissions, and

(b)  after having considered any submissions duly made by the bank.

(4)  Subsection (3) does not apply to the cancellation of an approval at the request of the bank that holds the approval.

(5)  A variation of the conditions of, or a suspension or cancellation of, an approval:

(a)  must be made by notice in writing served on the bank that holds the approval, and

(b)  takes effect at the time at which the notice is served or at a later time specified in the notice.

(6)  Before determining to take action under this section in relation to an approval, the Director-General may (but need not) determine that the approval will be subject to a period of review.

(7)  The Director-General is to give written notice of a determination under subsection (6) to the bank that holds the approval concerned and is to include in the notice written reasons for the determination.

9 Review by Administrative Decisions Tribunal of decisions relating to approval

(1)  A bank that is the applicant for an approval under this Part or the holder of such an approval may apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal for a review of any of the following decisions:

(a)  a decision of the Director-General to refuse to grant the approval,

(b)  a decision of the Director-General to impose conditions on the approval,

(c)  a decision of the Director-General to vary the conditions of the approval,

(d)  a decision of the Director-General to suspend or cancel the approval.

(2)  A representative of an industrial organisation of which persons employed or engaged to perform services for a bank are entitled or eligible to belong may apply to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal for a review of any of the following decisions:

(a)  a decision of the Director-General to grant an approval under this Part to the bank (whether with or without conditions),

(b)  a decision of the Director-General to vary the conditions of an approval granted to the bank under this Part.

(3)  In this section, industrial organisation means an industrial organisation within the meaning of the Industrial Relations Act 1996, or an organisation registered under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of the Commonwealth.

[3] Schedule 2 Savings, transitional and other provisions

Omit “make regulations containing” from clause 1 (1).
Insert instead “contain”.

[4] Schedule 2

Insert “Bank Holidays Legislation Amendment Act 2002” at the end of clause 1 (1).

Schedule 2 Amendment of Banks and Bank Holidays Act 1912

(Section 4)

[1] Section 14A

Insert after section 14:

  

14A Definition

In this Part, bank means an authorised deposit-taking institution (within the meaning of the Banking Act 1959 of the Commonwealth) that is authorised under that Act to use in its name:

(a)  the word bank, or

(b)  any other word or expression (whether or not in English) that is of like import to the word bank,

but does not include any such institution that is excluded from this definition by the regulations.

[2] Section 15A

Omit the section. Insert instead:

  

15A Saturdays and Sundays to be bank holidays

(1)  Every Saturday and Sunday that is not a bank holiday under another provision of this Act is declared to be a bank holiday under this section and is to be kept as a close holiday in all banks in New South Wales.

(2)  Subsection (1) does not prevent a bank opening (or one or more of its branches opening) in accordance with an approval granted under Part 2 of the Shops and Industries Act 1962.

(3)  This section does not apply to an agency of a bank unless the agency is a subsidiary of the bank (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth) or the bank controls the agency (within the meaning of section 50AA of that Act).

[3] Sections 16 and 17

Omit the sections.

[4] Part 4

Insert after Part 3:

  

Part 4 Miscellaneous

23 Regulations

The Governor may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for or with respect to any matter that by this Act is required or permitted to be prescribed or that is necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.

24 Savings, transitional and other provisions

Schedule 5 has effect.

[5] Schedule 5

Insert after the Fourth Schedule:

  

Schedule 5 Savings, transitional and other provisions

(Section 24)

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Regulations

(1)  The regulations may contain provisions of a savings or transitional nature consequent on the enactment of the following Acts:

Bank Holidays Legislation Amendment Act 2002

(2)  Any such provision may, if the regulations so provide, take effect from the date of assent to the Act concerned or a later date.

(3)  To the extent to which any such provision takes effect from a date that is earlier than the date of its publication in the Gazette, the provision does not operate so as:

(a)  to affect, in a manner prejudicial to any person (other than the State or an authority of the State), the rights of that person existing before the date of its publication, or

(b)  to impose liabilities on any person (other than the State or an authority of the State) in respect of anything done or omitted to be done before the date of its publication.

Part 2 Provisions consequent on enactment of Bank Holidays Legislation Amendment Act 2002

2 Existing references to bank holidays

(1)  In this clause:

amending Act means the Bank Holidays Legislation Amendment Act 2002.

existing industrial instrument means an industrial instrument as defined in the Industrial Relations Act 1996 that was made before the commencement of this clause.

(2)  An amendment made to Part 3 of this Act by the amending Act does not affect the meaning of any reference in any existing industrial instrument to a bank holiday or public holiday.

3 Opening hours for banks

A bank that was opening on any Saturday or Sunday, or both, during the period of 12 months immediately before the commencement of this clause may continue to so open without the need for an approval under Part 2 of the Shops and Industries Act 1962:

(a)  until the expiration of the period of 6 months from the commencement of this clause, or

(b)  if the bank makes an application for an approval under that Part before the expiration of that 6-month period, until the application is finally determined (taking into account any proceedings for a review by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal of a decision to refuse the application or to impose conditions of approval).