Explanatory Statement
Issued by the authority of the Australian Communications and Media Authority
DO NOT CALL REGISTER (ACCESS FEES) AMENDMENT DETERMINATION 2010 (No. 1)
Do Not Call Register Act 2006
Background, purpose and legislative basis
This document provides an explanation of the Do Not Call Register (Access Fees) Amendment Determination 2010 (No. 1) (the Amendment Determination) made under subsection 21(1) of the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (the Act).
The Act requires the ACMA to keep, or to arrange for another person (the contracted service provider) to keep, the Do Not Call Register (the Register). Subsection 21(1) of the Act allows the ACMA to make a determination providing for the fees that are payable for services provided by the ACMA or the contracted service provider, when numbers are submitted to be checked against the Register. This process of ‘washing’ access-seekers’ lists help access-seekers to avoid breaching the Act (see subsections 11(3) and 12B (3) of the Act).
On 1 May 2007, the ACMA made the Do Not Call Register (Access Fees) Determination 2007 (the Determination). The Determination, among other things, sets the fees that are payable by access-seekers for washing services.
The Do Not Call Register Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (the Amending Act) was made on 18 May 2010. The operative provisions of the Amending Act come into effect on 30 May 2010. The Amending Act makes changes to the Act to, among other things, extend the numbers eligible for registration on the Register to include emergency service numbers, numbers used or maintained exclusively for use by a government body and numbers used or maintained exclusively for transmitting and/or receiving faxes.
The Amendment Determination makes consequential amendments to the Determination to ensure that it is consistent with the amendments to the Act.
Consultation
The amendments made by the Amendment Determination are consequential amendments necessary to be made to ensure that fees for access to the Register are provided for in accordance with the Act as amended. They do not substantially alter the existing arrangements beyond ensuring that the arrangements relating to fees for access to the Register are relevant to the expanded Register, including registered numbers used or maintained exclusively for transmitting and/or receiving faxes, numbers used by a government body and emergency service numbers.
Prior to the Amending Act being made the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (the Department) engaged in extensive consultation with the public and with industry in relation to the proposed changes. The Bill was also subject to review by the Senate Environment, Communications and Arts Legislation Committee. Accordingly, the ACMA considers that appropriate consultation has already been undertaken on the effect of these amendments and considers that further consultation is unnecessary in the circumstances.
Regulatory impact
In September 2008 the Department undertook a preliminary assessment in relation to a proposal to expand the Register to include all telephone and fax numbers. This established that the compliance costs and other impacts would be low. The Office of Best Practice Regulation agreed with the preliminary assessment that no Regulation Impact Statement would be required in relation to these changes and provided advice to that effect also in September 2008 (ID 9841). Therefore no Regulation Impact Statement has been prepared for the Amending Determination.
Notes on the instrument
Section 1 – Name of Determination
Section 1 provides that the name of the instrument is the Do Not Call Register (Access Fees) Amendment Determination 2010 (No. 1).
Section 2 – Commencement
Section 2 sets out that the Amendment Determination commences on the day that Schedule 1 to the Do Not Call Register Legislation Amendment Act 2010 commences.
Section 3 – Amendment of Do Not Call Register (Access Fees) Determination 2007
Section 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Determination.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
[1] Note to section 3
Item 1 substitutes a Note in the Determination, inserting a reference to the definitions contained in section 4 of the Act, including the definition of Australian number.
[2] Subsection 4(1)
Item 2 substitutes subsection 4 (1), to replace the word “telephone” with “Australian”, and to remove a reference to subsection 19 (3) of the Act, which is repealed by the Amending Act.
[3] Paragraph 4(2)(a)
Item 3 makes a consequential amendment to paragraph 4 (2) (a) to replace the reference to “a telephone” (wherever occurring) with “an Australian”.
[4] Subsection 5(3)
Item 4 makes a consequential amendment to subsection 5 (3), to replace the word “telephone” with “Australian”.
[5] Paragraph 6(4)(a)
Item 5 makes a consequential amendment to paragraph 6 (4) (a) of the Determination to replace the word “telephone” with “Australian”.
[6] Subsection 6(4)
Item 6 makes a consequential amendment to subsection 6 (4) to remove a reference to subsection 19 (3) of the Act, which is repealed by the Amending Act.
[7] Subsection 8(1)
Item 7 makes a consequential amendment to subsection 8 (1) to remove a reference to subsection 19 (3) of the Act, which is repealed by the Amending Act.
[8] Note to section 8
Item 8 substitutes a Note in the Determination, to replace the word “telephone” with “Australian”.
[9] Section 9
Item 9 makes a consequential amendment to section 9 to remove a reference to subsection 19 (3) of the Act, which is repealed by the Amending Act.