Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts)Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Amendment Bill 2004
Notes on clauses
Clause 1 provides that the Bill, when enacted, may be cited as the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Amendment Act 2004.
Clause 2 provides that each provision of the Bill specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Item 1 of the table provides that clauses 1 to 3 of the Bill (containing the short title, the commencement provision and explaining the operation of the Schedules to the Bill) will commence on the day on which the Bill receives the Royal Assent.
Item 2 of the table provides that Schedules 1 and 2 to the Bill, containing various consequential amendments and transitional provisions in relation to the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997, will commence at the same time that clause 6 of the ACMA Bill commences. Clause 6 of the ACMA Bill, which establishes the ACMA, will commence on proclamation or 1 July 2005, if clause 6 has not commenced by that date.
Clause 3 provides that each Act that is specified in a Schedule to the Bill is amended or repealed as set out in that Schedule and any other item in a Schedule has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1 to the Bill amends the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997 to replace references to the ACA with references to the ACMA and makes other minor consequential amendments. In addition, it repeals Part 4 of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act, which relates to the exercise of powers by the former Australian Telecommunications Authority (AUSTEL) before 1 July 1997, as this Part is spent.
Schedule 2 to the Bill gives continuing effect to any existing determinations made by the ACA for the amount of application charge payable by an applicant for a carrier licence, the amount of annual charge payable by a carrier, the proportion of the ACA's costs for the immediately preceding financial year that is attributable to the ACA's telecommunications functions and powers and the proportion of the Commonwealth's annual contribution to the budget of the International Telecommunication Union, as if they had been made by the ACMA.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997
Items 1 and 2 - Amendments to section 5
Items 1 and 2 repeal the definition of 'ACA' in section 3 of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges Tax) Act and insert a definition of 'ACMA' in that section.
Items 3 and 4 - Amendments of subsection 9(1) and 14(1)
Subsection 9(1) of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act provides that for the amount of charge imposed on an application for a carrier licence is the amount ascertained in accordance with a written determination made by the ACA. Subsection 14(1) of that Act provides that the amount of charge imposed on a carrier licence is the amount ascertained in accordance with a written determination made by the ACA.
Items 3 and 4 amend subsections 9(1) and 14(1) to replace references to the ACA with references to the ACMA.
Items 5 to 12 - Amendments to section 15
Section 15 of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act provides for a limit on the total of the charges that are imposed on carrier licences in force at the beginning of a financial year. Paragraph 15(1)(a) provides that one of the components of this limit is the amount determined, by written instrument made by the ACA, to be the proportion of the ACA's costs for the immediately preceding financial year that is attributable to the ACA's telecommunications functions and powers. The terms 'ACA's telecommunications functions' and 'ACA's telecommunications powers' are defined in subsection 15(4) to have the same meaning as in the Telecommunications Act 1997. The term 'costs', in relation to the ACA, is defined in subsection 15(4) to mean an amount that, in accordance with accrual-based accounting principles, is treated as a cost of the ACA. Paragraph 15(1)(c) provides that another of the components of this limit is the amount determined, by a written instrument made by the ACA, to be the proportion of the Commonwealth's contribution to the budget of the International Telecommunication Union for the calendar year in which the beginning of the financial year occurs that is to be recovered from carriers.
Items 5 and 7 amend paragraphs 15(1)(a) and 15(1)(c) to replace references to the ACA with references to the ACMA.
Item 6 amends paragraph 15(1)(a) to replace references to 'ACA's' with references to 'ACMA's'.
Items 8 to 11 repeal the definitions of 'ACA's telecommunications functions' and 'ACA's telecommunications powers' in subsection 15(4) and replace these with definitions of 'ACMA's telecommunications functions' and 'ACMA's telecommunications powers'.
Item 12 replaces references to the ACA in paragraph (a) of the definition of 'cost' in subsection 15(4) with references to 'ACMA'.
Item 13 repeals Part 4 of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act, which relates to the exercise of powers by the former Australian Telecommunications Authority (AUSTEL) before 1 July 1997, as this Part is spent.
Schedule 2 - Transitional provisions
Item 1 contains definitions for the purposes of items 2 and 3. In particular, 'transition time' is defined to mean the commencement of Schedule 2 to the Bill. Schedule 2 will commence at the same time that clause 6 of the ACMA Bill commences. Clause 6 of the ACMA Bill, which establishes the ACMA, will commence on proclamation or 1 July 2005, if clause 6 has not commenced by that date.
Item 2 - Continued effect of amount determinations
Subsection 9(1) of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act provides that the amount of charge imposed on an application for a carrier licence is the amount ascertained in accordance with a written determination made by the ACA. Subsection 14(1) of that Act provides that the amount of charge imposed on a carrier licence is the amount ascertained in accordance with a written determination made by the ACA.
Section 15 of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act provides for a limit on the total of the charges that are imposed on carrier licences in force at the beginning of a financial year. Paragraph 15(1)(a) provides that one of the components of this limit is the amount determined, by written instrument made by the ACA, to be the proportion of the ACA's costs for the immediately preceding financial year that is attributable to the ACA's telecommunications functions and powers. Paragraph 15(1)(c) provides that another of the components of this limit is the amount determined, by a written instrument made by the ACA, to be the proportion of the Commonwealth's contribution to the budget of the International Telecommunication Union for the calendar year in which the beginning of the financial year occurs that is to be recovered from carriers.
Item 2 gives continuing effect to any existing determinations made by the ACA under subsection 9(1) or 14(1), or paragraph 15(1)(a) or (c) as if they had been made by the ACMA.
Item 3 - ACMA's costs include ACA's costs
To deal with the transition between the ACA and the ACMA during a financial year, subitem 3(1) provides that for the purposes of paragraph 15(1)(a) of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act as amended by Schedule 2 to the Bill, a reference to the ACMA's costs for a financial year includes a reference to the ACA's costs for that financial year.
Subitem 3(2) provides that the ACA's costs for a financial year are to be determined as if the amendments made by Schedule 1 to the definition of 'cost' in subsection 15(4) of the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act had not been made. That is, the ACA's costs will be an amount that, in accordance with accrual-based accounting principles, is treated as a cost of the ACA.