Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Related Items] [Help]


STEVEDORING LEVY (COLLECTION) REGULATIONS 1998 1998 NO. 226

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Statutory Rules 1998 No. 226

Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Act 1998

Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Regulations 1998

The Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Act 1998 (the Collection Act) assigns liability for levy, and establishes a process for collection of levy imposed by the Stevedoring Levy (Imposition) Act 1998 (the Imposition Act).

Subsection 21(1) of the Collection Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing, inter alia, matters required or permitted by the Act, or necessary or convenient to give effect to the Act.

Purpose

The regulations facilitate the collection of levy by, providing a method of payment of levy, requiring repayment of overpaid levy, requiring maintenance of relevant records by levy payers, and setting out certain requirements relating to inspectors under the Collection Act.

Context

Under section 6 of the Collection Act, the purpose of the levy imposed by the Imposition Act is to meet the cost of payments authorised by the Minister. Section 18 of the Collection Act allows the responsible Minister, (currently, the Minister for Workplace Relations and Small

Business) to authorise certain payments in connection with the reform and restructuring of the stevedoring industry up to a maximum amount of $250 million. In particular, the Minister may authorise payments for certain redundancies, occupational health and safety or training programs, the introduction of new technology, improved wharf facilities, certain administrative costs or for other activities that are prescribed by regulations.

Application

To facilitate the collection of levy, the Regulations provide for the method of payment of levy (Regulation 4), the repayment of amounts of overpaid levy (Regulation 5), the maintenance of relevant records by levy payers (Regulation 6), and certain requirements relating to inspectors under the Collection Act (Regulations 7 - 9).

It should be noted that section 9 of the Collection Act provides that the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, notify a month as the first levy month. Levy becomes payable in that month. The first levy month cannot be earlier than the second month after the Collection Act receives the Royal Assent, i.e., it could not be earlier than September 1998. No levy month has yet been notified.

Details

The details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

The Regulations commence on the date of gazettal

ATTACHMENT

Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Regulations 1998

Regulation 1 - Name of the Regulations

The Regulations are known as the Stevedoring Levy (Collection) Regulations 1998.

Regulation 2 - Commencement

The Regulations commence on the date of gazettal.

Regulation 3 - Definitions

Various terms used in the Regulations are defined.

Regulation 4 - Payment of levy

Regulation 4 requires all levy, or amounts of penalty, payable under section 12 of the Collection Act, to be paid by forwarding the amount payable to the Collector of Public Moneys at the postal address of the Department.

Regulation 5 - Repayment of overpayment

The Secretary of the Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business is required to refund any amount of levy, or late penalty, paid by a responsible person in excess of what is required to be paid under the Collection Act.

Under section 8 of the Collection Act, a responsible person means a person responsible under a contract, arrangement or understanding with the owner or charterer of a ship to load or unload cargo. Where a responsible person is a body corporate, that person and each other related body corporate, are jointly and severally liable to pay levy.

Regulation 6 - Records to be kept

A person responsible for paying the levy is required to keep records of the number of 'leviable operations' in any month for six years after the end of each year in which that month occurred.

A 'leviable operation' is defined in Regulation 3, by reference to subsection 7(1) of the Collection Act, to be the loading or unloading of a container or a vehicle onto or from a ship in Australia. It does not include the loading or unloading of local cargo. The term 'local cargo' is also defined in Regulation 3 ).

Subregulation 6(2) provides that record keeping obligations may be discharged by another person on behalf of the responsible person.

Pursuant to subregulation 6(3), there is no obligation to maintain records in relation to the loading and unloading of cargo after the final levy month.

Regulation 7 - Search warrant

Pursuant to Regulation 7, Schedule A is the prescribed form for a search warrant under section 14 of the Collection Act.

Regulation 8 - Identity card for inspector

Pursuant to Regulation 8, Schedule B is the prescribed form for an identity card for an inspector under section 15 of the Collection Act.

Regulation 9 - Information to be given to an inspector

Regulation 9 requires a responsible person to comply with a request from an inspector to provide information, relevant to observance of the Act, about the loading or unloading of a ship. A penalty of up to 10 penalty units applies where a responsible person fails to comply with such a request.


[Index] [Related Items] [Search] [Download] [Help]