EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules No. 245 /84
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL COMPANIES (FEES) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
Sub-section 4(1) of the Companies (Fees) Act 1981 (the Act) provides that there shall be paid to the Commonwealth for or in respect of -
(a) the lodgment of documents with the National Companies and Securities Commission (the NCSC) under the Companies Act 1981;
(b) the registration of documents under the Companies Act 1981 or the inspection or search of registers kept by, or documents in the custody of, the NCSC under that Act;
(c) the production by the NCSC, pursuant to a subpoena, of any register kept by, or documents in the custody of, the NCSC under the Companies Act 1981;
(d) the issuing of documents or copies of documents, the granting of licences, consents or approvals or the doing of other acts or things by the Ministerial Council for Companies and Securities, or the NCSC under the Companies Act 1981;
(e) the making of inquiries of, or applications to, the Ministerial Council or the NCSC in relation to matters arising under the Companies Act 1981; and
(f) the submission to the NCSC of documents for examination by the NCSC,
such fees (if any) as are prescribed.
Sub-section 5(1) of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing fees, not in any case exceeding $1,000, for the purposes of sub-section 4(1) of the Act. Sub-section 5(2) of the Act provides that the power of the Governor-General to make regulations under the Act shall be exercised only in accordance with advice that is consistent with resolutions of the Ministerial Council for Companies and Securities.
The fees payable for the purposes of sub-section 4(1) of the Companies (Fees) Act are prescribed in the Schedule to the Companies (Fees) Regulations (the Regulations).
The accompanying regulations increase the fees payable for the purposes of the Act so that they are generally in line with the increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the March 1984 quarter. The fees were last increased on 1 October 1983. The fees set out in the amending regulations have also been adjusted to take account of the discrepancy between the 1983 fees increase and the increase in the CPI for the March quarter of that year.
The Ministerial Council for Companies and Securities has resolved that regulations should be made under the Act in the form of the attached regulations.
The amendments, and their purposes, are:
Regulation 1 - Commencement
The accompanying regulations shall come into operation on 1 October 1984. This commencement date is consistent with the last annual fee increase on 1 October 1983.
Regulation 2 - Schedule
The schedule to the Regulations is amended as follows:
(a) the fee of $66 in item 1 is increased to $70;
(b) the fee of $33 in items 2, 7, 8 and 47 is increased to $35;
(c) the fee of $28 (wherever occurring) in items 3, 23 and 30 is increased to $30;
(d) the fee of $55 in items 3, 11, 14, 26, 29, 35, 44, 45, 46, 47, 56, and 57 is increased to $60;
(e) the fee of $17 in items 5, 15, 16, 17, 24, 27, 28, 37, 38, 43, 53 and 55 is increased to $18;
(f) the fee of $165 in items 6 and 9 is increased to $175;
(g) the fee of $83 in item 10 is increased to $90;
(h) the fee of $330 in items 12, 21 and 36 is increased to $350;
(i) the fee of $132 in items 13, 39 and 42 is increased to $140;
(j) the fee of $220 in items 16, 18 and 20 is increased to $240;
(k) the fee of $110 in items 19, 22, 36, 39 and 42 is increased to $120;
(l) the fee of $550 in items 22 and 25 is increased to $590;
(m) the fee of $39 item 31 is increased to $41;
(n) the fee of $22 in items 32, 33 and 41 is increased to $24;
(o) the fee of $44 in items 34 and 40 is increased to $48;
(p) the fee of $11 in items 37, 38, 47 and 54 is increased to $12;
(q) the fee of $88 in item 40 is increased to $95.
(r) the fee of $275 in item 58 is increased to $300.