Full description
The State Property Authority was established as a statutory body on 1 September 2006 by the State Property Authority Act 2006 (Act No.40, 2006), which was assented to on 8 June 2006, and proclaimed to commence on 1 September 2006. (1)
The general functions of the Authority were to:
(a) Hold, manage, maintain, acquire or dispose of property for the government and government agencies;
(b) Carry out, manage, co-ordinate or participate in the development of the property of government agencies (including property of the Authority);
(c) Arrange, where appropriate, for the sharing of facilities and premises by government agencies to reduce operational expenses;
(d) Provide services or do other things for the management, maintenance or improvement of property of government agencies (including property of the Authority);
(e) Provide advice to the Treasurer in relation to properties of government agencies and, in particular, as to whether those properties were being efficiently utilised;
(f) Provide advice to the Treasurer on the transfer of properties to the Authority and on budgetary measures relating to the properties of government agencies;
(g) Provide advice to the Treasurer on such matters relating to the properties of government agencies (including the property of the Authority) as the Treasurer directed. (2)
Any property to be vested in the Authority was required to be transferred by means of notification in the NSW Government Gazette which amended Schedule 1 of the State Property Authority Act 2006 (Act No.40, 2006). (3) The first and second State Property Authority Orders 2007 vested the initial properties in the Authority. (4)
The Authority was “subject to the control and direction of the Minister in the exercise of its functions”, and the Authority was also required to “report to the Treasurer on matters relating to the properties of government agencies". The Chief Executive Officer was “responsible for the day-to-day management of the affairs of the Authority”. (5)
A State Property Authority Advisory Board was established by June 2007 “to provide strategic direction and advice to the Chief Executive Officer in delivering the government’s property reform program”. The Board, initially, comprised “the Secretary of Treasury (Chair), the Director-General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Director-General of the Department of Education and Training". (6)
The Authority was unable to employ any staff in its own right under the State Property Act 2006 (Act No. 40, 2006). However, staff could be “employed under Chapter 1A of the Public Sector Employment and Management 2002 in the Government Service to enable the Authority to exercise its functions”. (7) On 1 September 2006, the Office of the State Property Authority was “established as a Department of the Public Service", to fulfil this function. (8)
From 1 July 2009, when the Office of the State Property Authority was abolished the State Property Authority became a branch of the Land and Property Management Authority (LPMA). (9)
On 17 July 2009, the State Property Act 2006 was amended by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 (Act No.56, 2009) to change the means of notification of the transfers of property to the Authority, from the Government Gazette to that of publication on the NSW Legislation website. This Act also made other minor amendments to Schedules 1 and 2 of the State Property Act 2006. (10)
On 30 November 2009, the Public Sector Restructure (Miscellaneous Acts Amendments) Act 2009 (Act No. 96, 2009) “amended Section 3 (1) of the State Property Act 2006 to confer on the Chief Executive of the Land and Property Management Authority the functions of the Chief Executive of the Authority”. (11)
In December 2009, the State Property Authority Advisory Board was abolished following the “amalgamation of the Authority with LPMA”. (12)
From 4 April 2011, when the Land and Property Management Authority was abolished, the State Property Authority became a branch of the Principal Department, the Department of Finance and Services (formerly the Department of Services, Technology and Administration). The Director-General, Department of Finance and Services also "assumed the role of Authority Chief Executive Officer on 4 April 2011”. (13)
By mid-2012, the Authority was located within the Housing and Property Group, of the Department of Finance and Services. Operationally, the Authority was managed by a General Manager who reported to the Minister for Finance and Services "through the Executive Director, Housing and Property Group and the Chief Executive Officer". (14)
On 12 December 2012, the name of the Authority was changed to Government Property NSW under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 2012 (Act No.93, 2012). (15) This Act also changed the name of the State Property Authority Act to the Government Property NSW Act 2006 (Act No.40, 2006). All references in the Act to the State Property Authority were also amended to Government Property NSW, and all references to the Treasurer were amended to the Minster. (16)
From 23 April 2014, when the Department of Finance and Services was renamed the Office of Finance and Services which reported to the Treasury, Government Property NSW became a branch of the Office of Finance and Services. (17)
On 1 July 2015 the Office of Finance and Services became the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation (DFSI). (18) During a restructure in 2015-16, a group branded as Property NSW was formed, which brought together Government Property NSW, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, the Teacher Housing Authority of NSW and the Waste Assets Management Corporation. (19) From 1 July 2016, Valuation Services (from Land and Property Information), Public Works Facilities Management and Public Works Advisory joined Property NSW to form the Property and Advisory Group, one of nine administrative divisions of DFSI. (20)
When the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation was abolished the staff who were principally involved in the administration of legislation allocated to the Minister for Water, Property and Housing, including those of Property NSW, were transferred to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. (22)
By July 2022 Property NSW had changed its group name to Property and Development NSW. (21) It became part of the Department of Planning and Housing. (23)
Endnotes
1. State Property Authority Act 2006, ss.2, 4-5.
2. Ibid., s.11.
3. Ibid., ss.17-20.
4. State Property Order 2007 in NSW Government Gazette No.25, Special Supplement, 2 February 2007, pp.711 - 716; State Property Authority Order (No.2) 2007 in NSW Government Gazette No.83, 29 June 2007, pp.4196-4177. Note: when the State Property Authority Act 2006 was assented to, Schedule 1 was initially left blank.
5. State Property Act, ss.6-7 ; State Property Authority Annual Report 2006-2007, p.4.
6. Ibid., p.13.
7. State Property Act, s.11 (4).
8. Public Sector Employment and Management (State Property Authority) Order 2006 in NSW Government Gazette No.111, 1 September 2006, pp.7751-7753.
9. Public Sector Employment and Management (Departmental Amalgamations) Order 2009 (2009 No 352) cls.31; notified on NSW Legislation Website, 27 July 2009; State Property Annual Report 2009-2010, p.3, 5-12; Land and Property Management Authority Annual Report 2009-2010, pp.1, 5, 16, 24-25.
10. Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, s.2 (1), Schedule 1, Clause 1.37 [1]-[9]. Amending Schedules 1-2 of the Principal Act; Schedule 4, Clause 4.67 [1]- [2]. Amending sections 17 and 19 of the Principal Act.
11. State Property Authority Annual Report 2009-2010, p.66; Public Sector Restructure (Miscellaneous Acts Amendments) Act 2009 (Act No.96, 2009), s.2 (1), Schedule 25. Amending s.3 (1) of the Principal Act.
12. Ibid., p.6.
13. Public Sector Employment and Management (Departments) Order 2011 (2011 No.184) cls.30; notified on NSW Legislation website, 3 April 2011; State Property Authority Annual Report 2010-2011, p.5.
14. State Property Authority Annual Report 2011- 2012, p.5; Department of Finance and Services Annual Report 2011-2012, pp. 8-12.
15. Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 2012, s.2 (3), Schedule 2, Clause 2.8 [11]. A new Part 4 of Schedule 2 of the Principal Act.
16. Ibid., Schedule 2, Clause 2.8 [1]-[11]. Amending title of Act, and of Parts 2, 3 and Schedule 1; Amending ss.1, 3, 4-18, 20, and Schedule 2, Clause 3.
17. Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes - Ministers and Public Service Agencies) Order 2014 (2014 No 233) cls.6; notified on NSW Legislation website, 23 April 2014; 'About Us - Divisions and Business Units' from the Office of Finance and Services website, http://www.finance.nsw.gov.au/divisions-and-related-entities (accessed 6 May 2014).
18. Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes - Public Service Agencies) Order (No 2) 2015 (2015 No 250), cls. 5, 12 (1); notified on NSW Legislation Website, 29 May 2015.
19. Property NSW Annual Review 2015-16, p.2.
20. Ibid., p.5; Department of Finance, Services and Innovation Annual Report 2016-17, p.12.
21. Property NSW Annual Report 2021-2022, p.8.
22. Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order 2019 (2019 No 159) cls.26(1); notified on NSW Legislation website, 2 April 2019 as amended by Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Public Service Agencies) Order 2019 (2019 No 180), Schedule 1 [1]; notified on NSW Legislation website, 1 May 2019.
23. Department of Planning and Housing website, Property and Development NSW, (accessed 16 April 2024).
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