EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Telecommunications (Costs Attributable To Telecommunications Functions and Powers) Determination 2007

Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997

This instrument is issued by the authority of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (‘ACMA’).

Legislative Provisions

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 ACMA, to be the proportion of the ACMA's costs for the immediately preceding financial year that is attributable to the ACMA's telecommunications functions and powers; and

b)   the amount determined, by a written instrument made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission  (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 ACMA, 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. Although paragraph 15(1)(e) of the Act was repealed under Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition Consumer Interests) Act 2005, the operation of transitional provisions in the Telecommunications (Carrier Licence Charges) Act 1997  provides a statutory power for the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts to make a determination. 

The accompanying Determination has been made for the purposes of paragraph 15(1)(a) of the Act. The Determination provides that $22,417,119 is the amount determined to be the proportion of ACMA’s costs for the 2005-2006 financial year that is attributable to the ACMA’s telecommunications functions and powers.  Paragraph 15(4)(a) of the Act requires that the ACMA’s costs are to be calculated in accordance with accrual-based accounting principles.   This amount has been calculated in accordance with those principles.

For the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, a Determination is considered as a legislative instrument. Therefore the accompanying Determination must be registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments (FRLI).

Consultation

On application for a licence, carriers are advised that this determination is relevant to the imposition and calculation of a carrier licence charge, to recover costs for a financial year if they hold a licence on the first day of  the financial year.

On 1 May 2007 the Office of Best Practice Regulation advised that a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for the making of this determination (exemption number 9141), as the changes were minor and machinery in nature, and did not substantially alter existing arrangements.

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; which is the day after it is registered on the FRLI.

Section 3 – Amount

This section provides the amount determined under the determination.