Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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ARCHIVES REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1998 NO. 273

Statutory Rules 1998 No. 273

Archives Regulations (Amendment)

(Issued under the authority of the Minister of State for Communications, the Information Economy and the Arts

Section 71 of the Archives Act 1983 (the Act) provides for the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of the Act, including regulations in relation to charges imposed by the National Archives of Australia (the Archives). These include charges for providing a copy of a record pursuant to the granting of access to a record under paragraph 36 (2) (b) of the Act, for providing a copy of the Australian National Guide to Archival Material or part of the Guide under subsection 66(6) of the Act and for providing discretionary services to persons other than Commonwealth institutions.

The Regulations amend the provisions for charging for copying and discretionary services in the Archives Regulations (the Principal Regulations). For copying charges, the changes involve rephrasing certain items and charges to allow for greater flexibility in charging for different products. For the provision of discretionary services, the changes increase charges for all but two items and include an additional item. A discretionary service is one that the Archives has power to provide but that it is not required to provide for the proper performance of its functions.

The current copying charges are listed in Schedule 1 Part 1 and Part 1A to the Regulations. There is a fixed rate of charge for photocopies while for other types of copies the charge is stated as an amount equal to or less than the cost incurred by the Archives in providing the copy. It is proposed that all charges for copying now be expressed as an amount equal to or less than the cost to the Archives of giving the copy. This would make it possible to charge appropriately for non-standard copying, for example for non-standard sizes, colour or bulk copying. The uniform wording for the charging rate for all types of copies also removes the need for Schedule 1 Part 1 and Part 1A of the Principal Regulations since it can be expressed within the body of Regulation 11.

The current charges in Schedule 1 for providing discretionary services are based on 1994-95 costs. The Department of Finance and Administration's Wage Cost indexes indicating adjustments required to Commonwealth running costs for 1995-96 and 1996-97 were 1.7% and 2.1 % respectively. An increase of at least 2.2% is forecast for 1997-98. An increase of 10% in charges would cover these increases and still be within competitive market limits. Accordingly, the increased charges are based on a 10% increase. The increase will still mean that the Archives is operating on a partial cost recovery basis, as required by Government.

An exception to the above increases is made for the charges for Items 16 and 17 relating to training. These are already high in comparison with the prevailing prices in the market, so they remain unchanged.

An additional item in the schedule providing for a charge for supplying archival containers is included. The Archives currently provides these containers free of charge to clients using its storage services. It is considered that charging for containers will act as a discipline on clients to limit the number they request and be a saying to Government and a benefit to the environment. The charge that the Archives would make could vary depending on the type, size and number supplied, so the charge is expressed as an amount equal to or less than the cost to the Archives.

The amendments ensure that charges for services to persons other than Commonwealth institutions may continue at appropriate rates for financial year 1998-99.

The regulations commence on gazettal.