EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Communications

Television Licence Fees Act 1964

Television Licence Fees Amendment (Licence Fee Rebate) Regulation 2016

Purpose

The Television Licence Fees Act 1964 (the Act) requires commercial television broadcasting licensees to pay licence fees in relation to their gross earnings from the televising of advertisements or other matter by services provided under their licences.

Section 8 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted to be prescribed by the Act, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed in carrying out or giving effect to the Act. Subsection 5(2) of the Act provides that the regulations may make provision for rebates of licence fees payable by commercial television broadcasting licensees.

The purpose of the Television Licence Fees Amendment (Licence Fee Rebate) Regulation 2016 (Regulation) is to amend Part 4 of the Television Licence Fees Regulations 1990 (the Principal Regulations).

Part 4 of the Principal Regulations was introduced in 2010 to provide licence fee rebates to commercial television broadcasting licensees. It stipulates the amount of licence fee rebates that may be claimed by eligible licensees and the accounting periods in relation to which rebates may be claimed. The rebate scheme in Part 4 applied from the accounting period ending in 2010 to the accounting period ending in 2013. Rebates were not provided beyond 2013, when the Television Licence Fees Amendment Act 2013 reduced permanently the annual licence fees payable by commercial television broadcasters.  

The Regulation amends Part 4 of the Principal Regulations so that eligible licensees may claim a 25 per cent licence fee rebate for the accounting period ending in 2016. This reduction recognises the significant pressures faced by the commercial television broadcasting sector as a result of emerging and convergent technology.

The Regulation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003. The Regulation is subject to parliamentary scrutiny and disallowance.

The Regulation commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Regulation Impact Statement

The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has advised that this measure is purely revenue in nature and that a Regulation Impact Statement is not required (OBPR ID 20862).

Statement of compatibility with human rights

This statement of compatibility is prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

The purpose of this Regulation is to provide for a rebate to be available for eligible commercial television broadcasting licensees under the television licence fee rebate scheme for an accounting period ending in 2016.

This Regulation is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. This is because the Regulation does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms, and it does not raise any human rights issues.

Consultation

The Minister consulted with industry stakeholders on the measures contained in the Regulation.

Details of the accompanying Regulation are set out in the Attachment.

ATTACHMENT

Details of the Television Licence Fees Amendment (Licence Fee Rebate) Regulation 2016

Section 1 – Name

This section provides that the title of the Regulation is the Television Licence Fees Amendment (Licence Fee Rebate) Regulation 2016.

Section 2 – Commencement

This section sets out the date on which each provision of the Regulation commences. The whole of the instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Section 3 – Authority

This section provides that the Regulation is made under the Television Licence Fees Act 1964.

Section 4 – Schedules

This section provides that each instrument specified in a Schedule to the Regulation is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms. There is one Schedule to the Regulation. Schedule 1 amends the Television Licence Fees Regulations 1990 (the Principal Regulations).

Schedule 1 – Amendments

Item [1] – Regulation 20 (definition of Australian Content Standard)

Item [1] of Schedule 1 repeals the definition of “Australian Content Standard” in regulation 20 of the Principal Regulations. The repeal of this definition is consequential to the repeal of regulation 22, by item 4 below, which linked eligibility for a rebate during accounting periods ending in 2011, 2012 and 2013 to compliance with the Broadcasting Services (Australian Content) Standard 2005 (Australian Content Standard).

Item [2] – Regulation 20 (definition of eligible licensee)

Item [2] of Schedule 1 repeals and substitutes the definition of “eligible licensee” in regulation 20 of the Principal Regulations. That definition sets out the class of licensees that is eligible to claim a licence fee rebate.

The effect of item [2] is to remove certain elements of the definition which require an eligible licensee to hold a licence that was allocated and/or in force during a specified period. Rather, under the substituted definition, each holder of a commercial television broadcasting licence allocated under section 36, 38A or 38B of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 will be an ‘eligible licensee’ for the purposes of Part 4.   

Item [3] – Regulation 21

Item [3] of Schedule 1 repeals and substitutes regulation 21 of the Principal Regulations, which sets out the accounting periods to which the licence fee rebate scheme applies. The effect of item [3] is to repeal references to accounting periods from previous years and instead provide that the rebate scheme in Part 4 of the Principal Regulations applies to eligible licensees for the accounting period ending on a day in 2016.

Item [4] – Regulation 22

Item [4] of Schedule 1 repeals regulation 22 of the Principal Regulations, which is a spent provision relating to compliance with the Australian Content Standard during accounting periods ending in 2011, 2012 and 2013. It is not intended that eligibility to claim a rebate for an accounting period ending in 2016 be linked to compliance with content standard requirements.

Item [5] – Subregulation 23(1)

Item [5] of Schedule 1 amends subregulation 23(1) of the Principal Regulations to omit the reference to “accounting periods” and substitute a reference to “accounting period”. This change is consequential to the amendments to regulation 21 made by item [3] above.

Item [6] – Subregulations 23(2), (2A) and (2B)

Item [6] of Schedule 1 repeals and substitutes subregulation 23(2) of the Principal Regulations, which sets out the amount of the licence fee rebate that is available for each accounting period and the deadline for claim. The table in subregulation 23(2) refers to accounting periods from previous years. The effect of item [6] is to repeal those spent references and instead provide that, for the accounting period mentioned in item 21 (i.e. the period ending on a day in 2016), the amount of rebate is 25% and the deadline for claiming the rebate is 31 December 2016.

Item [6] of Schedule 1 also repeals and substitutes subregulations 23(2A) and 23(2B) which expired on 30 June 2013 and are spent.

Item [7] – Subregulation 24(1)

Item [7] of Schedule 1 amends subregulation 24(1) of the Principal Regulations to omit the reference to “any of the accounting periods to which the licence fee rebate applies” and substitute a reference to “the accounting period mentioned in regulation 21”. This change is consequential to the amendments to regulation 21 made by item [3] above.

Item [8] – Subregulation 24(2)

Item [8] of Schedule 1 amends subregulation 24(2) of the Principal Regulations to omit the reference to “an accounting period” and substitute a reference to “the accounting period”. This change is consequential to the amendments to regulation 21 made by item [3] above.

Item [9] – Subregulation 24(2)

Item [9] of Schedule 1 amends subregulation 24(2) of the Principal Regulations to omit the reference to “that accounting period” and substitute a reference to “the accounting period”. This change is also consequential to the amendments to regulation 21 made by item [3] above.