Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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FISHING LEVY REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 303

STATUTORY RULES 1993 No. 303

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Resources

Fishing Levy Act 1991

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Fishing Levy Regulations (Amendment)

Section 8 of the Fishing Levy Act 1991 (the 1991 Levy Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of section 6 of the Levy Act.

Section 5 of the Levy Act imposes levy in respect of a fishing concession. Section 6 of the Levy Act provides that the amount of levy imposed on the fishing concession is the amount prescribed by the Regulations.

Section 168 of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) empowers the GovernorGeneral to make regulations for the purposes of the Management Act. Section 110 of the Management Act provides that the levy imposed by the Levy Act is due and payable at a time or times ascertained in accordance with regulations made under the Management Act.

Prior to the commencement of the Management Act, Commonwealth fisheries were regulated under the Fisheries Act 1952 (the 1952 Act). When the 1952 Act was repealed by subsection 3(2) of the Fisheries Legislation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991 (the Consequential Provisions Act), Part IVA of the 1952 Act was perpetuated for a further 2 years and will expire on 3 February 1994. There is a proposal currently before the Parliament to extend this period for a further 12 months. The result is that the fisheries (or parts of fisheries) which are the subject of agreements between the States and the Commonwealth made under Part IVA continue to be managed under the 1952 Act, instead of being managed under the Management Act, until the sunset provisions of subsection 7(3) of the Consequential Provisions Act take effect. Fisheries that continue to be managed under the 1952 Act in this manner are known as "Part IVA fisheries".

The Fishing Levy Regulations (the principal Regulations) specify an amount of levy payable on all fishing concessions. The principal Regulations also provide for specific exemptions.

The Regulations amend the principal Regulations. The amendment implements a new levy base for fisheries managed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and is proposed in parallel with amendments to the Fisheries Levy Regulations in force under the Fisheries Levy Act 1984 (the 1984 Levy Act), which set the levy in relation to Part IVA fisheries. The new levy base is structured on the basis of specific cost recovery from the users of each of AFMA's services.

If the management costs for a fishery are recovered by means of an amount of levy prescribed in a Regulation (known as a "fishery specific levy Regulation") which applies only to authorisations permitting fishing in the fishery and which is made under either the 1991 Levy Act or, if the fishery is a Part IVA fishery, the 1984 Levy Act, then the fishery is known as a "formally managed fishery". The Regulations define an "informally managed fishery" to be, in effect, a fishery other than a formally managed fishery.

The Regulations specify a new amount of levy payable only on a fishing concession authorising the use of a boat in an informally managed fishery. This levy is calculated on the basis of recovering a proportion of the costs of management (including surveillance and logbook programs) in informally managed fisheries. Levy that was collected under the principal Regulations on fishing concessions for formally managed fisheries is no longer collected under the Regulations. Rather, levy to recover costs of managing a formally managed fishery is collected only under the relevant fishery specific levy Regulation.

The effect of the Regulations is to require the payment of levy in the amount of $700 for a fishing concession authorising the use of a boat in an informally managed fishery in the year that the fishing concession is granted and further amounts of $700 for each subsequent year of the term of the fishing concession. The levy is due and payable on the grant of a fishing concession and on each anniversary of the grant.

The Regulations apply (with exceptions) to fishing concessions granted after the commencement of the Regulations. The exceptions are designed to ensure that the amount of levy is recovered only once during the period of currency of the fishing concession, where a holder of the fishing concession also holds other fishing concessions, authorisations under the 1952 Act or both, if all of them authorise fishing in one or more informally managed fisheries using the same boat. Persons who are granted a fishing concession that authorises only the testing of equipment would be exempt from paying levy for that fishing concession.

The Regulations also omit the former subregulation 2(2) of the principal Regulations. All expressions used in the principal Regulations that are defined under each of the Levy Act and the Management Act are defined in each Act in identical terms. The further guidance given for definition of those expressions, appearing in that subregulation, is not required.

Details of the Regulations, which commenced on gazettal, are set out below:

Regulation 1 provides for the amendment of the principal Regulations.

Regulation 2 amends regulation 2 (Interpretation) of the principal Regulations by omitting the definition of "Act" in subregulation 2(1) and substituting definitions of "Levy Act" and "Management Act", inserting the definition of "informally managed fishery" in subregulation 2(1) and omitting subregulation 2(2).

Regulation 3 amends regulation 3 (Amount of levy) of the principal Regulations by omitting the regulation and substituting new regulation 3.

Regulation 4 amends regulation 4 (When is levy payable?) of the principal Regulations by omitting the regulation and substituting new regulation 4.