Government Technology Agency Act 2016

“Agency” means the Government Technology Agency established by section 3;

“Chairperson”, in relation to the Agency, means the member of the Agency who is appointed under section 13(1)(a) as the Chairperson of the Agency, and includes any individual acting in that capacity;

“Chief Executive” means the Chief Executive of the Agency, and includes any individual acting in that capacity;

“committee”, in relation to the Agency, means a committee of the Agency appointed under section 36;

“committee member” means a member of a committee of the Agency appointed under section 36;

“company” has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Companies Act 1967;

“delegate”, in relation to the Agency, means a person to whom the Agency, under section 38(1), delegates any of its functions or powers;

“Deputy Chairperson”, in relation to the Agency, means the member of the Agency who is appointed under section 13(1)(b) as the Deputy Chairperson of the Agency;

“document” includes any device or medium on which information is recorded or stored;

“employee”, in relation to the Agency, means —

“function”, in relation to the Agency, means a function conferred on the Agency by this Act or any other Act;

“info-communications technology” means any technology employed in the collection, storage, use or transmission of information, and includes a technology that involves the use of a computer or a telecommunication system;

“member”, in relation to the Agency, means a member of the Agency appointed under section 11, and includes a temporary member appointed under section 15(2);

“power”, in relation to the Agency, means a power given to the Agency by this Act or any other Act;

“public authority” means a body that is established or constituted by or under a public Act to perform or discharge a public function, but does not include a Town Council established under section 4 of the Town Councils Act 1988;

“public entity” means a body corporate (not being a public authority) that —

“public sector” means the Government and all public authorities, and includes any part of the public sector;

“public sector body” means a Ministry, a Government department, a public authority or any other body of persons in the public sector;

“system”, in relation to info‑communications technology or related engineering, includes infrastructure and application;

“telecommunication system” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Telecommunications Act 1999.

The objectives of the Agency are to —

The Agency has the following functions:

The Agency may also undertake any other functions that the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, assign to the Agency, and in so undertaking —

Nothing in this section imposes on the Agency, directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable by proceedings before any court to which the Agency would not otherwise be subject.

Subject to this Act, the Agency has power to do all things necessary or convenient to be done for, or in connection with, the performance of its functions.

Without limiting subsection (1), the powers of the Agency mentioned in that subsection include power —

To avoid doubt, subsection (1) does not limit any other power given to the Agency by any other provision in this Act or by any other Act.

Where the Minister proposes to transfer any property or function of the Agency to another body corporate (called in this section the transferee), the Agency has the power to do anything which, in the opinion of the Agency, is appropriate for the purpose of —

To avoid doubt, subsection (1) does not limit any other power given to the Agency by any other provision in this Act or by any other Act.

For the purposes of subsection (1)(d), a body corporate is a member of the same group as the transferee if —

In this section —

“holding company” and “subsidiary” have the meanings given by section 5 of the Companies Act 1967;

“related proposal” means a proposal of the Minister that relates to the Minister’s proposal to transfer a property or function of the Agency to the transferee, and includes a proposal relating to or connected with —

The Minister may give to the Agency any direction under section 5 of the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018.

To avoid doubt, the Minister is entitled —

For the purposes of this section, the Minister may request the Agency —

The Agency must comply with a request under subsection (3).

In this section, “information” means information specified, or of a description specified, by the Minister that relates to the Agency’s functions, and includes a document.

The Agency has the exclusive right to the use of one or more symbols or representations as it may select or devise (each called in this section the Agency’s symbol or representation), and to display or exhibit those symbols or representations in connection with the Agency’s activities or affairs.

A person who —

The Agency consists of at least 6 and not more than 17 members.

One of the members (who is not the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson) may be the Chief Executive.

Each member is to be appointed by the Minister.

Every appointment must be made by instrument in writing given to the member.

The instrument must state —

In appointing members, the Minister must have regard to whether the members will collectively possess the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to assist the Agency to perform its functions effectively.

The following individuals are disqualified to be or from being a member:

In this section, “VCC” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018.

The Minister may, by instrument in writing, appoint —

A member who is appointed as the Chief Executive is not eligible for an appointment under subsection (1).

The Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson holds office until whichever of the following first happens:

The Deputy Chairperson has and may perform all the functions and exercise all the powers of the Chairperson in relation to a matter if —

If a premature vacancy occurs in the office of a member, the Minister may, subject to sections 10 and 12, appoint an individual to fill the vacancy and hold that office for the remainder of the term for which the vacating member was appointed.

Section 11 applies to an appointment under subsection (1).

In this section, “premature vacancy”, for an office, means a vacancy that occurs in that office for any reason other than the expiry of the term of office.

The Minister may appoint an individual (other than the Chief Executive) to act temporarily as the Chairperson of the Agency during any period, or during all periods, when the Chairperson —

The Minister may appoint an individual to act temporarily as a member of the Agency (other than the Chairperson) during any period, or during all periods, when the member —

An individual is ineligible for appointment under this section to act as the Chairperson or a member if the individual is disqualified under section 12(2) from appointment as a member.

The Minister may, at any time and without giving any reason, remove a member from office.

Every removal under subsection (1) must be made by written notice to the member.

The notice must state the date the removal takes effect (which must not be earlier than the date on which the member receives the notice).

A member may resign his or her office by written notice to the Minister.

The resignation is effective —

The performance of any function, or the exercise of any power, of the Agency by the Agency is not affected merely because at the relevant time —

The acts of an individual as a member of the Agency are not affected merely because there was some defect or irregularity existing in the appointment or continuance in office of the individual purporting to be a member.

The term of appointment of a member must not exceed 3 years.

A member may be re-appointed.

A member ceases to hold office if he or she —

A member is not entitled to any compensation or other payment or benefit relating to his or her ceasing, for any reason, to hold office as a member.

The Agency is to hold such meetings as are necessary for performing its functions.

The Chairperson must appoint the times and places of the meetings of the Agency, and cause notice of those meetings to be given to each member not present when the appointment is made.

If the Chairperson receives a written request, signed by 4 or more members, that a meeting of the Agency be convened for a purpose specified in the request, the Chairperson must, within 7 days after receiving the request, convene a meeting for that purpose.

The quorum for a meeting of the Agency is the higher of the following:

No business may be transacted at a meeting of the Agency if a quorum is not present.

At a meeting of the Agency, the following person presides:

The person specified in subsection (1)(b) or (c) may perform the functions and exercise the powers of the Chairperson for the purposes of the meeting.

Each member has one vote.

In addition to his or her general vote, the person presiding at a meeting has, in the case of an equality of votes at the meeting, a casting vote.

A decision is adopted by the Agency at a meeting if it is agreed to by all members present at the meeting without dissent or if a majority of the votes cast on it are in favour of it.

A member present at a meeting of the Agency is presumed to have agreed to, and to have cast a vote in favour of, a decision of the Agency unless he or she expressly dissents from or votes against the decision at the meeting.

The Agency must have a seal.

The seal of the Agency is to be kept and used as authorised by the Agency.

A document is duly executed by the Agency if —

Where a document is to be executed under seal, the Agency may, under subsection (3)(b), authorise one or more of its employees to execute, on the Agency’s behalf, the document under the Agency’s seal in accordance with the terms of that authorisation.

A document purporting to be executed in accordance with this section is presumed to be duly executed until the contrary is shown.

All courts, judges and persons acting judicially are to take judicial notice of the imprint of the seal of the Agency appearing on a document.

When a document is produced bearing a seal purporting to be the seal of the Agency, it is presumed that the seal is the seal of the Agency until the contrary is shown.

The Agency may appoint any number of committees that it thinks fit for purposes which, in the opinion of the Agency, would be better regulated and managed by means of those committees.

A committee appointed under this section may consist of such individuals as the Agency thinks fit, and may include individuals who are not members of the Agency.

Without limiting subsection (1), the Agency may appoint any committee —

An individual must not be appointed as a member of a committee unless, before appointment, he or she discloses to the Agency the details of any interest (within the meaning given by Part 4 of the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018) the individual may have if he or she were a member of that committee.

Subject to this Act, the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018 and the control of the Agency, a committee appointed under section 36 may regulate its own proceedings and business.

Section 18 applies, with the necessary modifications, to a committee and the members of the committee.

The Agency may delegate any of its functions or powers, either generally or specially and subject to any conditions or restrictions that it thinks fit, to any of the following persons:

A delegation under subsection (1) must be by written notice given to the delegate.

Subsection (1) does not apply to any function or power under this Act or any other Act that is declared by this Act or that other Act to be non‑delegable.

A delegation in accordance with this section is not affected —

For the purposes of subsection (1)(d), a company is a subsidiary of the Agency if —

There must be a Chief Executive of the Agency, whose appointment, removal, discipline and promotion must be in accordance with the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018.

The Agency may, subject to the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018, appoint an individual to act temporarily as the Chief Executive during any period, or during all periods, when the Chief Executive —

The Agency may, subject to the Public Sector (Governance) Act 2018, appoint and employ, on such terms and conditions as it may determine, such other officers, employees, consultants and agents as may be necessary for the effective performance of its functions.

The Chief Executive, a member, an employee or a delegate of the Agency, or a committee member, who has information in his or her capacity as such that would not otherwise be available to him or her, must not disclose that information to any person except —

Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

The funds and property of the Agency include —

The moneys of the Agency are to be applied only in payment of expenses incurred by it in the discharge of its functions, obligations and liabilities, and in making any payment that the Agency is authorised or required to make.

The Agency must open and maintain one or more accounts with such bank or banks as the Agency thinks fit.

Every account under subsection (1) may only be operated by a person who is authorised to do so by the Agency.

The Agency cannot raise loans for the performance of its functions under this Act or any other Act administered by the Agency except in accordance with this section.

Subject to subsection (3), the Agency may raise loans by —

The Agency may raise loans under subsection (2) —

For the purposes of this section, the power to raise loans includes the power to enter into any financial agreement or arrangement under which credit facilities are granted to the Agency for the purchase of goods or services.

The Agency may monitor the public sector’s compliance —

For the purpose of subsection (1), the Agency may carry out, or authorise any person to carry out, an audit of the architecture or use of any info-communications technology or related engineering system or service in the public sector.

The Agency may report on the compliance of a public sector body with any directive, code, standard or guideline mentioned in subsection (1) —

Where the Agency is of the opinion that additional measures are required to safeguard or restore the security or reliability of any info‑communications technology or related engineering system or service in the public sector, the Agency may, with the authorisation of the Minister —

In this section, “measures” includes the development and implementation of systems and services.

For the purposes of sections 61 and 62, the Agency may require a public sector body to grant access, or make the necessary arrangements for access to be granted, to the Agency or any person authorised by the Agency in respect of —

The Agency’s powers under subsection (1) are subject to any other Act that prohibits or restricts the disclosure of information.

“designated public entity” means a public entity that is declared by the Minister under section 66(3) to be a designated public entity;

“relevant system or service”, in relation to a designated public entity, means the system or service of the designated public entity in respect of which arrangements are established under section 66;

“responsible Minister”, in relation to a public entity or designated public entity, means the Minister charged with the responsibility for —

Upon the responsible Minister making a request under section 65, the Minister charged with the responsibility for the Agency may direct the Agency to establish the necessary arrangements with the public entity on the steps that the Agency may take under section 67, including with respect to —

The arrangements established under subsection (1) must be submitted to the responsible Minister for his or her approval.

After the responsible Minister approves the arrangements, the Minister charged with the responsibility for the Agency may, by notification in the Gazette, declare the public entity to be a designated public entity and specify the date on which the arrangements are to take effect.

The Agency and the designated public entity may, at any time, by agreement, vary the arrangements with the approval of the responsible Minister.