EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997

Telecommunications (Costs Attributable To Telecommunications Functions and Powers) Determination 2005

Issued by the authority of the Australian Communications Authority (‘ACA’)

The Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997 (the Act) sets out the method of calculating annual charges that apply to the carrier licences held by the telecommunications carriers.  Subsection 15(1) of the Act states that the total of charges that are imposed on carrier licences in force at the beginning of a financial year must not exceed the sum of:

a)   the amount determined, by a 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; and

b)   the amount determined, by a written instrument made by the ACCC, to be the proportion of the ACCC's costs for the immediately preceding financial year that is attributable to the ACCC's telecommunications functions and powers; and

c)   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; and

d)   the amount determined, in a written instrument made by the Minister, to be the estimated total amount of grants likely to be made during the financial year under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997; and

e)   the amount determined by the Minister, by written instrument, to be the proportion of the Commonwealth's costs for the immediately preceding financial year that is attributable to the administration of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Telecommunications Act 1997.

The accompanying Determination has been made for the purposes of paragraph 15(1)(a) of the Act. The Determination provides that $25,171,322 is the amount determined to be the proportion of ACA’s costs for the 2003-2004 financial year that is attributable to the ACA’s telecommunications functions and powers.  Paragraph 15(4)(a) of the Act requires that the ACA’s costs are to be calculated in accordance with accrual-based accounting principles.   This amount has been calculated in accordance with those principles.

Subsection 15(2) of the Act provides that an instrument under subsection (1) must be notified in the Gazette before the day on which the charges referred to in subsection (1) become due for payment.  Subsection 15(3) of the Act provides that an instrument under subsection (1) is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.  The accompanying Determination must therefore be published in the Gazette, tabled in Parliament and is subject to Parliamentary disallowance.

Attachment 1

Notes on the Instrument

Section 1 – Name of Determination

This section sets out the name of the determination.

Section 2 – Commencement

This section provides for the commencement of the determination.

Section 3 – Amount

This section provides the amount determined under the determination.