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Fee Units Act 1997
An Act to provide for the introduction of a fee units system in legislation
[Royal Assent 11 December 1997]
Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:
This Act may be cited as the Fee Units Act 1997 .
This Act commences on a day to be proclaimed.
(1) In this Act –amendment notice means a notice under section 8A(3) that amends a tabled notice;CPI figure for Hobart means the Consumer Price Index: All Groups Index Number for Hobart published by the Australian Statistician under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905 of the Commonwealth;enactment means an Act, but does not include –(a) a regulation, rule or by-law unless it is –(i) made by the Governor; or(ii) made by a person or body other than the Governor and is required by law to be approved, confirmed or assented to by the Governor; or(b) any other instrument of a legislative character unless it is –(i) made under the authority of an Act; and(ii) declared by the Minister under subsection (2) to be an enactment for the purposes of this Act;fee means a fee or charge that is payable under any enactment;goods and services tax means the GST as defined in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth;Head of an Agency means –(a) a Head of a State Service Agency; and(b) a chief executive officer within the meaning of the Government Business Enterprises Act 1995 ;notified fee means a fee referred to in a tabled notice;tabled notice means a notice that has been published under section 8 and laid before each House of Parliament in accordance with section 8(3) .(2) The Minister, by notice published in the Gazette, may declare an instrument of a legislative character to be an enactment for the purposes of this Act.
4. Use and interpretation of fee units
(1) If an enactment sets or adjusts a fee, the fee or adjusted fee must be expressed in fee units.(2) If a fee is specified as a number of dollars in an enactment, the fee is to be read as the same number of fee units.
(1) Until 1 July 1998, a fee unit is $1.(2) On 1 July in the year 1998 and in each following year, the value of a fee unit during the financial year commencing on that day is to be calculated in accordance with the following formula:where –F1 is the value in dollars of one fee unit during the relevant financial year;F0 is the value in dollars of one fee unit during the previous financial year;B is the average CPI figure for Hobart in respect of the 4 quarters ending on 31 December immediately preceding the financial year in which the value of a fee unit is to apply;C is the average CPI figure for Hobart in respect of the 4 quarters immediately preceding the 4 quarters referred to in the definition of B ;X is the fee unit adjustment factor, expressed as a decimal, determined under subsection (4) .(3) The value of "X" in subsection (2) must be greater than or equal to zero.(4) The Treasurer is to determine annually an amount, to be known as the fee unit adjustment factor, representing the amount by which the ratio of "B" to "C" should be adjusted to reflect any matters the Treasurer considers relevant for the purposes of the fee unit calculation.(5) Where the value of a fee unit calculated in accordance with subsection (2) contains a fraction of a cent that value is to be –(a) rounded up to the nearest cent, if the remainder is 0.5 of a cent or more; or(b) rounded down to the nearest cent, if the remainder is less than 0.5 of a cent.
(1) The amount of a fee provided for by an enactment is to be calculated by multiplying the number of fee units applicable by the value of a fee unit calculated under section 5 .(2) The amount of a fee is to be rounded down to the nearest cent.
7. Notification of fee unit and fee unit adjustment factor
On or before 15 February in each year, the Minister is to publish in the Gazette notice of –(a) the value of a fee unit that is to apply for the financial year commencing on 1 July in that year; and(b) the fee unit adjustment factor used in the calculation of that value together with a brief description of the matters taken into consideration in determining the fee unit adjustment factor.
(1) A Head of an Agency responsible for collecting a fee is to –(a) publish in the Gazette a notice specifying –(i) the amount of the current fee, excluding the goods and services tax; and(ii) the amount of the fee for the next financial year, excluding the goods and services tax; and(iii) whether or not the fee is excluded from the goods and services tax under section 81-5(2) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth; and(iv) the amount of the goods and services tax payable in respect of the fee; and(v) the total fee payable; and(b) give any other notification specifying the amounts and matters referred to in paragraph (a) that the Head of an Agency considers appropriate for the next financial year.(2) The Head of an Agency is to publish the notice on or before 31 March immediately preceding the financial year during which the amount of the fee is to apply.(2A) In subsections (1) and (2) , the reference to the Head of an Agency is a reference to the Head of an Agency responsible to the Minister to whom is assigned the administration of the enactment by which the fee is set.(3) The provisions of section 8 and section 47(3) , (3A) , (4) , (5) , (6) and (7) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1931 apply to a notice made under subsection (1)(a) as if it were regulations within the meaning of that Act.(4) The Subordinate Legislation Committee Act 1969 applies to a notice under subsection (1)(a) as if it were regulations within the meaning of that Act.
(1) If a Head of an Agency becomes aware that a notice published by him or her under section 8 includes an incorrect fee or mistakenly omits a fee and that notice has not been laid before each House of Parliament in accordance with section 8(3) , that Head of an Agency must amend the notice, by further notice published in the Gazette, to correct or insert the fee.(2) If under subsection (1) a fee is corrected or inserted in a notice published under section 8 –(a) the corrected or inserted fee is taken to have been included in that notice from the time it was so published; and(b) the notice to be laid before each House of Parliament under section 8(3) must specify the fee as so corrected or inserted.(3) If a notice published under section 8 includes an incorrect fee or mistakenly omits a fee and that notice has been laid before each House of Parliament in accordance with section 8(3) , the Minister may amend that notice, by further notice published in the Gazette, to correct or insert the fee.(4) Section 8 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1931 applies to an amendment notice as if it were regulations within the meaning of that Act.(5) If an amendment notice corrects a notified fee by increasing it or inserts a fee into a tabled notice, the provisions of section 47(3) , (3A) , (4) , (5) , (6) and (7) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1931 apply to an amendment notice as if it were regulations within the meaning of that Act.(6) The Subordinate Legislation Committee Act 1969 applies to an amendment notice referred to in subsection (5) as if it were regulations within the meaning of that Act.
(1) The amount of a notified fee payable at any time in a financial year is –(a) if the amount of the notified fee in respect of that financial year has not been disallowed by either House of Parliament, the amount specified in the relevant tabled notice; or(b) if the amount of the notified fee in respect of that financial year has been disallowed by either House of Parliament, the amount that was payable in the immediately preceding financial year.(2) If a tabled notice in respect of a financial year is amended by an amendment notice that corrects the amount of a notified fee by increasing it or inserts a fee in the tabled notice, the amount of the fee payable (subject to any disallowance of the amendment by a House of Parliament) in that financial year after that amendment takes effect is that adjusted fee or inserted fee.(3) If a tabled notice in respect of a financial year is amended by an amendment notice that corrects the amount of a notified fee by decreasing it, the amount of the fee payable in that financial year after that amendment commences is that corrected fee.(4) Despite subsection (1) , if a notice published under section 8 specifies the amount of a fee in respect of a financial year and, after the publication of that notice in the Gazette (whether or not that notice has been laid before both Houses of Parliament), the enactment under which the fee is set is amended by adjusting the fee, the amount of the fee payable (before taking into account any goods and services tax payable on the fee and subject to any disallowance of that amendment by a House of Parliament) in that financial year or that part of that financial year remaining after the commencement of that amendment is the amount calculated in accordance with section 6 based on that adjusted fee.(5) If a fee under an enactment is mistakenly omitted from a notice published under section 8 in respect of a financial year (whether or not it is also a tabled notice), or is included in a notice published under section 8 in respect of a financial year and that notice is not also a tabled notice –(a) the amount of the fee payable in that financial year is the amount that was payable in the immediately preceding financial year; or(b) if, after the publication of that notice in the Gazette, the enactment under which the fee is set is amended by adjusting the fee, the amount of the fee payable (before taking into account any goods and services tax payable on the fee and subject to any disallowance of that amendment by a House of Parliament) in that financial year or that part of that financial year remaining after the commencement of that amendment is the amount calculated in accordance with section 6 based on that adjusted fee.(6) If during a financial year a new fee is set by an enactment, the amount of the fee payable (before taking into account any goods and services tax payable on the fee and subject to any disallowance of the enactment by a House of Parliament) in that part of the financial year remaining after the enactment commences is the amount calculated in accordance with section 6 .
8C. Refund for certain overpayments of fees
(1) If the Minister makes an amendment notice that decreases the amount of a notified fee in respect of a financial year, the relevant Head of an Agency must give notice, in not less than 3 daily newspapers published and circulating in Tasmania –(a) of that decrease; and(b) advising that any person who has paid, in respect of that financial year, the amount of notified fee at the higher rate may apply to that Head of an Agency for a refund of the excess amount paid.(2) If a person has paid a notified fee and an amendment notice later decreases that notified fee, the relevant Head of an Agency must refund to that person the amount paid in excess of the decreased notified fee if –(a) that Head of an Agency has a record of the identity of, and the amount paid by, the person; or(b) the person who paid the fee has –(i) applied to that Head of an Agency for the refund; and(ii) supplied to that Head of an Agency such evidence of the payment of the notified fee as that Head of an Agency considers sufficient.
(1) The Minister, by notice published in the Gazette, may specify certain fees to be exempt from the application of this Act.(2) This Act does not apply if a fee is levied by a Government Business Enterprise, within the meaning of the Government Business Enterprises Act 1995 , unless the fee relates to a public regulatory function or power of that Government Business Enterprise.(3) The Minister, by written notice to a Government Business Enterprise, may determine whether a fee relates to a public regulatory function or power of the Government Business Enterprise.
If a fee is exempted from the application of this Act by a notice under section 9(1) , the amount of the fee after the commencement of the exemption, and subject to any adjustment in accordance with any other arrangement applying under the Act under which the fee is levied, is the same as it was immediately before the commencement of the exemption.
10A. Effect of Act on right to adjust fees
Nothing in this Act prevents the setting or adjustment, at any time, of a fee in accordance with the arrangements for setting or adjusting fees applying under the Act under which the fee may be, or is, levied.
11. Notices not statutory rules
A notice under this Act is not a statutory rule for the purposes of the Rules Publication Act 1953 .
Until provision is made in relation to this Act by order under section 4 of the Administrative Arrangements Act 1990 –(a) the administration of this Act is assigned to the Minister for Finance; and(b) the Department responsible to the Minister for Finance in relation to the administration of this Act is the Department of Treasury and Finance.