Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for the Environment and Energy, the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP)Notes on clauses - Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2017
Part 1 - Preliminary
Clause 1 - Short Title
1. This clause would provide for the Bill, when enacted, to be cited as the Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2017.
Clause 2 - Commencement
2. This clause would provide that this Bill commences at the same time as the Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Bill 2017 (Main Bill) commences.
3. If the Main Bill does not commence then this Bill would not commence either.
Clause 3 - Schedules
4. This clause would provide that the Schedule amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and the Taxation Administration Act 1953 in the manner set out in the Schedule.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Part 1 - Consequential amendments
Competition and Consumer Act 2010
Item 1 - After section 95ZP
5. This item would insert a new section 95ZPA into the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
6. The intention of section 95ZPA is to enable fuel information to be shared by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) with the Department of the Environment and Energy (the Department). It is envisioned that information related to the ownership, operation, capacity, throughput and location of fuel storage terminals, which is collected by the ACCC, would be shared with the Department. This information would be used to validate the statistics produced by the Department and produce information relevant to evaluating energy security policy.
7. Section 95ZPA would enable an entrusted person under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to disclose protected information under that Act to the agency responsible for administrating the Main Bill, if the information enabled or assisted an officer in the agency responsible for administrating the Main Bill to carry out any function or power under the Main Bill.
8. The Chairperson, or his or her delegate under subsection 95APA(4), may impose written conditions when disclosing protected information. For example, the Chairperson could require that the disclosed information be stored securely or not be disclosed outside of the receiving agency without the Chairperson's consent.
9. The Chairperson may delegate his or her power to authorise disclosure of protected information under this clause to another member of the Commission, an SES employee or an acting SES employee of the Commission.
Taxation Administration Act 1953
Item 2 - Subsection 355-65(8) in Schedule 1 (after table item 6)
10. This item would insert a new table item 6A into subsection 355-65(8) of Schedule 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953.
11. The intention of the new table item 6A is to enable the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to share fuel information with the Department. It is envisioned that the ATO would share information collected under the Product Stewardship for Oil Program and the fuel excise and customs duty regimes with the Department.
12. The Product Stewardship for Oil Program collects data on the volumes of some covered products (such as lubricants and base oil stocks) entered for home consumption and the volumes of oils re-refined and recycled. During consultation, stakeholders supported the use of this data as an alternative to mandatory reporting.
13. The excise and customs duty regimes require businesses to report the volume of transport fuels entered for home consumption on a weekly basis (this is used to calculate their liability to pay fuel excise). It is envisioned that the Rules created under section 41 of the Main Bill could require businesses to report the volumes of fuel they had entered for home consumption in a month (as monthly data is required by the International Energy Agency (IEA)). Therefore, comparison between information reported to the Department and the ATO will assist the Department to verify the information received under mandatory reporting.
14. The Taxation Administration Act 1953 contains a range of restrictions on the on-disclosure of information provided to other entities. These restrictions would apply to information shared by the ATO as a result of this amendment. For example, section 355-155 of Schedule 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 would mean it was an offence for the Department to on-disclose information unless the disclosure was permissible under the Taxation Administration Act 1953. The most relevant permission is contained in section 355-175, which provides that information may be on-disclosed to another entity (such as the IEA) if the disclosure is in accordance with the original exemption. That is the exemption provided by this amendment.
15. This means that the Department would be able to disclose information provided by the ATO to another entity if the disclosure was for the purpose of administering the Main Bill. It is intended that a disclosure to the IEA in accordance with clause 16 or clause 24 of the Main Bill would be for the purposes of administering it.
16. The Taxation Administration Act 1953 regulates the circumstances in which the Department may on-disclose information received from the ATO to its Minister (currently the Minister for the Environment and Energy) (section 355-210 of Schedule 1); a Court or tribunal (355-205 of Schedule 1); or with the consent of the person to whom the information relates (355-160 of Schedule 1).
Part 2 - Application and transitional provisions
Item 3 - Application provision - reports of fuel information to be given to the Secretary
17. This item would make clear that the obligation to report fuel information under clause 11 of the Main Bill would commence on 1 January 2018 or when the Rules made under clause 41 of the Main Bill commence, whichever day is later.
18. It is envisioned that the mandatory reporting obligation would commence on 1 January 2018, but if the Rules had not yet commenced it would be appropriate to delay the commencement of the reporting requirement until such time that the Rules were operative.
Item 4 - Application provision - publication of fuel information
19. This item would make clear that the Secretary's power in the Main Bill to publish fuel information would apply to information collected before, on or after the commencement of this Bill.
Item 5 - Application provision - disclosure of information to the Secretary
20. This item would make clear that an entrusted person under the Australian Border Force Act 2015 could disclose information under clause 31 of the Main Bill whether that information was collected before, on or after the commencement of this Bill.
Item 6 - Application provision - Competition and Consumer Act 2010
21. This item would make clear that the ACCC could disclose information under section 95ZPA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 inserted by item 1 of Schedule 1 of this Bill whether that information was collected before, on or after the commencement of this Bill.
Item 7 - Application provision - Taxation Administration Act 1953
22. This item would make clear that the ATO could disclose information under table item 6A in subsection 355-65(8) of Schedule 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 inserted by item 2 of Schedule 1 of this Bill whether that information was collected before, on or after the commencement of this Bill.