Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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FISHERIES MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 296

STATUTORY RULES 1993 No. 296

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Resources

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Fisheries Management Regulations (Amendment)

Section 168 of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the Management Act) empowers the GovernorGeneral to make regulations for the purposes of the Management Act. Paragraph 168(2)(e) of the Management Act specifically empowers the Governor-General to make regulations providing for the imposition and recovery of fees in respect of, among other things, the making of applications 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 When the 1952 Act was repealed by subsection 3(2) of the Fisheries Legislation (Consequential Provisions) Act 1991 (the Consequential Provisions Act), Part IVA of the 1952 Act was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 Fisheries Management Regulations (the principal Regulations), among other things, specify fees in respect of applications relating to fishing concessions made under the Management Act.

The Regulations amend the principal Regulations. The amendment implements new fees for fisheries managed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) under the Management Act. The amendment operates in parallel with amendments to the Fisheries Regulations in force under the 1952 Act, which set fees in relation to Part IVA fisheries. The new fees are structured on the basis of specific cost recovery from users of each of AFMA's services.

The Regulations define a "formally managed fishery" to be, in effect, a fishery for which management costs 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 that fishery and which is made under either the Fishing Levy Act 1991 or, if the fishery is a Part IVA fishery, the Fisheries Levy Act 1984. The Regulations define an "informally managed fishery" to be, in effect, a fishery other than a formally managed fishery.

The Regulations impose new fees in respect of applications for the grant of a fishing concession, the transfer of a fishing concession, and the variation of a fishing concession. A new fee is imposed for applications for the grant of permits authorising particular levels of fishing in the hook sector of the Southern Shark Fishery on a cost recovery basis. A further new fee is imposed for applications for a fish receiver permit, also on a cost recovery basis.

Other fees are unchanged. The amounts and incidences of the new fees imposed by the Regulations are set out in new subregulation 21(2) and in new Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations.

To reflect the higher costs to AFMA of assessing applications for the grant of fishing concessions authorising the use of a boat in an informally managed fishery or the use of a foreign boat generally, the fees for applications for those transactions are set higher than the fees for applications for the grant of fishing concessions authorising the use of an Australian boat in a formally managed fishery. Fees for the application for the grant of a foreign master fishing licence are set at the same level as the fee for the grant of a master fisherman's licence for a foreign boat under the Fisheries Regulations in force under the 1952 Act as both of these licences have an equivalent effect. Fees for applications for transfers and variations of fishing concessions are set uniformly to reflect the cost to AFMA of providing the relevant services.

The Regulations apply (with exceptions) to applications relating to fishing concessions and other matters that are received by AFMA after the commencement of the Regulations. The exceptions are designed mainly to ensure that a fee recovered for an application of a particular type which affects a fishing concession held by a person and which relates to a boat, is only recovered once, even if the same person also applies at a particular time for equivalent transactions in respect of other fishing concessions, licences under the 1952 Act or both, that are also held or applied for by the person and authorise (or would authorise) fishing using the same boat. These exceptions also allow AFMA to avoid charging double the normal fee in relation to applications relating to fisheries which are managed partly under the Management Act and partly as a Part IVA fishery.

The Regulations also omit the former subregulation 21(2) of the principal Regulations. An application is not formally received (and therefore cannot be acted upon) unless all fees are paid. Therefore the subregulation, which prohibits AFMA from acting on matter for which a fee is payable until the fee is paid, 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 21 (Fees) of the Principal Regulations by omitting subregulation 21(1), which specified the previous fees in the previous Schedule 2 and subregulation 21(2), which prohibited AFMA from acting until a fee was paid; and substituting new subregulation 21(1), which provides new definitions, subregulation 21(1A), which specifies the new fees in the new Schedule 2 and subregulation 21(2), which specifies the new fee on particular applications relating to the Southern Shark Fishery.

Regulation 3 amends Schedule 2 (Fees) of the Principal Regulations by omitting the Schedule and substituting a new Schedule 2 (Fees).