This Act may be cited as the Cinematograph Films Amendment Act 1960, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Cinematograph Films Act 1928 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act).

This Act shall come into force on the first day of April, nineteen hundred and sixty-one.

Section 2 of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting in their appropriate alphabetical order the following definitions:

There is hereby established an authority to be called the Cinematograph Films Licensing Authority, which shall have such functions as are conferred on it by this Act and by regulations.

The Licensing Authority shall consist of:

Members of the Licensing Authority shall be appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister.

Except as provided by subsection (5) of this section, every member of the Licensing Authority appointed under paragraph (b) or paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of this section shall hold office for a term of three years, but may from time to time be reappointed or may be at any time removed from office by the Governor-General for disability, bankruptcy, neglect of duty, or misconduct, or may at any time resign his office by writing addressed to the Minister.

If any member of the Licensing Authority to whom subsection (4) of this section refers dies, is removed from office, or resigns, the vacancy so created shall be filled in the manner in which the appointment to the vacant office was originally made. Every person so appointed shall be appointed for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

Unless he sooner vacates his office as provided in subsection (5) of this section, every member of the Licensing Authority to whom subsection (4) of this section refers shall continue in office until his successor comes into office, notwithstanding that the term for which he was appointed may have expired.

No member of the Licensing Authority shall be personally liable for any act done or omitted to be done by the Licensing Authority or by any member thereof in good faith in pursuance of the powers and authority of the Licensing Authority.

For the purpose of any hearing, inquiry, or investigation to be held or made by it under this Act the Licensing Authority shall be deemed to be a Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908; and, subject to the provisions of the principal Act and this Act, the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 shall apply accordingly.

At all meetings of the Licensing Authority the quorum necessary for the transaction of business shall be two members, including the Chairman or his deputy.

The Chairman or his deputy shall preside at every sitting of the Licensing Authority.

If at any sitting of the Licensing Authority two members only are present, the Chairman or his deputy shall have a casting vote. In every other case a decision of the majority of the members present shall be the decision of the Licensing Authority.

Every sitting of the Licensing Authority shall be held in private.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the Licensing Authority shall determine its own procedure.

The Licensing Authority may, for any particular purpose, delegate to any of its members or to any person or persons any of the powers of inquiry or investigation conferred upon it by this Act, and the person or persons to whom any such delegation is made shall possess for the purpose all the powers of the Licensing Authority with respect to the inquiry or investigation.

Every member of the Licensing Authority and every person engaged or employed in connection with the work of the Licensing Authority shall—

Every person who wilfully acts in contravention of the true intent of that oath or affirmation commits an offence against this Act, and shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

In any case in which the Minister is satisfied that the Chairman or any other member of the Licensing Authority is incapacitated by illness, absence, or other sufficient cause from performing the duties of his office, the Minister may appoint a deputy to act for the Chairman or for that other member during his incapacity.

Any deputy appointed under this section shall, while he acts as such, be deemed to be a member of the licensing Authority, and any deputy acting for the Chairman shall have all the powers of the Chairman.

No appointment of a deputy and no acts done by him as such, and no act done by the Licensing Authority while any deputy is acting as such, shall in any proceedings be questioned on the ground that the occasion of his appointment had not arisen or had ceased.

There may from time to time be appointed under the provisions of the Public Service Act 1912 a Secretary to the Licensing Authority and such other officers as may be deemed necessary for the purposes of the principal Act and this Act.

There may be paid to the members of the Licensing Authority remuneration by way of fees, salary, or allowances and travelling allowances and expenses in accordance with the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951, and the provisions of that Act shall apply accordingly.

The Licensing Authority is hereby declared to be a statutory Board within the meaning of the Fees and Travelling Allowances Act 1951.

The Governor-General may from time to time appoint a suitable person to be a Cinematograph Films Licensing Appeal Authority.

The person appointed to be the Licensing Appeal Authority shall be a barrister or solicitor of the Supreme Court of not less than seven years’ practice whether or not he holds or has held any judicial office.

Any person appointed under this section to be the Licensing Appeal Authority may hold that office concurrently with any other office held by him.

The person appointed to be the Licensing Appeal Authority shall hold office for a term of four years, but may from time to time be reappointed, or may be at any time removed from office by the Governor-General in Council for disability, insolvency, neglect of duty, or misconduct, or may at any time resign his office by writing addressed to the Prime Minister.

Where the person who is the Licensing Appeal Authority becomes from any cause incapable of acting or where that person deems it not proper or desirable that he should adjudicate at any specified appeal, the Governor-General in Council may appoint a suitable person to be the Deputy Cinematograph Films Licensing Appeal Authority. The person so appointed shall, subject to the conditions or limitations and for the period specified in his appointment, have all the powers, duties, and functions of the Licensing Appeal Authority.

The fact that any person is acting as the deputy of the Licensing Appeal Authority shall be conclusive evidence of his authority so to do, and no person shall be concerned to inquire whether the occasion for his appointment had arisen or ceased.

No person shall be appointed a deputy of the Licensing Appeal Authority under this section unless he is eligible for appointment as the Licensing Appeal Authority.

The Licensing Appeal Authority shall sit as a judicial authority for the determination of appeals from any decision of the Licensing Authority.

The Licensing Appeal Authority may receive as evidence any statement, document, information, or matter that may in its opinion assist it to deal effectually with the matters before it, whether or not the same would be otherwise admissible in a Court of law.

Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, the Evidence Act 1908 shall apply to the Licensing Appeal Authority, and to all proceedings before the Licensing Appeal Authority, in the same manner as if the Licensing Appeal Authority were a Court within the meaning of that Act.

The Licensing Appeal Authority shall, within the scope of its jurisdiction, be deemed to be a Commission of Inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908, and, subject to the provisions of the principal Act and this Act, all the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act 1908 shall apply accordingly.

Proceedings before the Licensing Appeal Authority shall not be held bad for want of form; and no appeal shall lie from any order of the Licensing Appeal Authority; and, except on the ground of lack of jurisdiction, no proceeding or order of the Licensing Appeal Authority shall be liable to be challenged, reviewed, or called in question in any Court.

Every sitting of the Licensing Appeal Authority shall be held in public and at such place as it deems convenient having regard to the nature of the matter to be decided:

Provided that the Licensing Appeal Authority may in any case, if it considers it in the interests of the parties and of all other persons concerned, order that the hearing or any part thereof shall be held in private.

Any sitting of the Licensing Appeal Authority may be adjourned from time to time and from place to place.

The Licensing Appeal Authority may make an order prohibiting the publication of any report or description of the proceedings or of any part of the proceedings in any appeal before it:

Provided that no such order shall be made prohibiting the publication of the names and descriptions of the parties to the appeal, or particulars of any licence thereby affected, or of any decision of the Licensing Appeal Authority.

Except as otherwise provided in the principal Act or this Act, the Licensing Appeal Authority shall determine its own procedure.

There shall be a right of appeal within twenty-eight days after the date of the decision appealed against from the whole or any part of any decision of the Licensing Authority in respect of any licence or in respect of any application to the Licensing Authority for a licence or for variation of the terms of an existing licence.

The following persons and no others may exercise a right of appeal as specified in subsection (1) of this section:

Every appeal to the Licensing Appeal Authority shall be in the prescribed form and shall be forwarded to the Secretary for Internal Affairs.

Every such appeal shall be referred forthwith to the Licensing Appeal Authority for determination in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

For the purposes of every such appeal the Secretary shall furnish to the Licensing Appeal Authority a copy of any notes of evidence taken by the Licensing Authority in connection with the subject-matter of the appeal.

As soon as conveniently may be after the receipt of any appeal, the Licensing Appeal Authority shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the appeal and shall give not less than fourteen clear days’ public notice of the time so fixed, and shall also give not less than fourteen clear days’ notice in writing to the appellant and to the holder of or applicant for any licence in respect of which the appeal is made.

At the hearing of any appeal, the Licensing Appeal Authority shall hear all the evidence tendered and all representations made by or on behalf of the appellant and other persons which it deems relevant to the subject-matter of the appeal.

In its determination of any appeal the Licensing Appeal Authority may confirm, modify, or reverse the decision appealed against.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in section 17 of this Act, the Licensing Appeal Authority may in any case, instead of determining any appeal under that section, direct the Licensing Authority to reconsider the matter in respect of which the appeal was made.

In any case where the Licensing Appeal Authority issues a direction under subsection (1) of this section, the decision appealed against shall have no effect, and the Licensing Authority shall again consider the matter as if no decision had previously been made, and the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the Licensing Authority had received an original application in respect of the matter to which the direction relates.

Whenever the Licensing Appeal Authority directs the Licensing Authority to reconsider a matter, the Licensing Appeal Authority shall advise the Licensing Authority of its reasons for so doing; and the Licensing Authority in reconsidering the matter shall have regard to those reasons.

The determination of the Licensing Appeal Authority in any appeal shall be communicated by the Licensing Appeal Authority to the Secretary for Internal Affairs, who shall thereupon notify that determination to the Licensing Authority and to every other person who in the opinion of the Secretary for Internal Affairs is directly concerned, and the Licensing Authority shall forthwith take all necessary steps to carry into effect the decision of the Licensing Appeal Authority.

Section 28 of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection (2) the words “to the Minister, or to an officer of the Public Service to be appointed to receive applications for and to issue such licences”, and substituting the words “to the Secretary to the Licensing Authority”.

Section 28 of the principal Act is hereby further amended by inserting, after subsection (2), the following subsection:

Section 32 of the principal Act is hereby amended by omitting from subsection (2) the words “to the Minister, or to any officer of the Public Service to be appointed to receive applications for and to issue such licences”, and substituting the words “to the Secretary to the Licensing Authority”.

Section 32 of the principal Act is hereby further amended by inserting, after subsection (2), the following subsection:

Section 43 of the principal Act, as amended by section 3 of the Cinematograph Films Amendment Act 1956, is hereby further amended—

Every renter’s licence and exhibitor’s licence issued under the principal Act and subsisting immediately before the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to have been issued under the principal Act as amended by this Act, and shall continue and have effect accordingly.