Queensland Government responds in support of review of Gene Technology Act

The Queensland Government’s response to the recommendations of the review of the operation of the Gene Technology Act 2001 (Qld) has been released.

The government said its response to the review recommendations was prepared in consultation with relevant departments “who generally support the findings of the review”.

“Departments recognise that there is room to improve Australia’s arrangements to regulate gene technology and that this would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Gene Technology Act 2001 (Qld),” the response said.

AusBiotech made a submission during the review last year to support Queensland’s uptake of Recommendation 3 from the Commonwealth review, which proposed that all jurisdictions follow the example of New South Wales and the Northern Territory by automatically adopting changes to gene technology regulation by reference to the Commonwealth legislation, thereby achieving further administrative and efficiency gains.

Queensland has retained its capacity to exercise regulatory influence over its state agencies and universities through the Queensland Act, which corresponds with, but is not fully compliant with, the Commonwealth legislation.

AusBiotech said that any delay in adhering to the Commonwealth legislation causes “a period of inconsistency during which existing state legislation continues to operate until amendments can be passed by the respective legislatures”.

Ensuring all jurisdictions are in “lock-step” with the Commonwealth legislation will provide predictability for the industry to commercialise GMOs and eliminate the significant disincentive for the investment and development of gene-based technology in Australia.

AusBiotech recommended that the Queensland Government renew its Act to ensure it reflects completely the Commonwealth Act, as swiftly as possible, and reconfirm its commitment to the Commonwealth, thereby providing support for a nationally consistent scheme for gene-technology regulation. This will assist in providing a consistent path to market for federally approved GMO traits.

The review was undertaken in 2013 and investigated whether the Gene Technology Act 2001 (Qld) was operating as an efficient and effective component of the regulatory scheme.

The review concluded that there are potential efficiencies to be gained from automatically adopting amended gene-technology regulation by reference to the Commonwealth legislation and being in lock step. However, it was recommended that this should only proceed if there are legislated provisions accompanying the change to lock step which provide adequate safeguards for Queensland.

The Review of the Gene Technology Act 2001 (Qld) can be viewed here. The Queensland Government’s response to the review is available here