EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No. 120

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Fisheries Management Act 1991

Fisheries Management Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 2)

 

The Fisheries Management Amendment Regulations 2009 (No. 2) (the Regulations) are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

 

Subsection 168(1) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (the FM Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the FM Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the FM Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, in carrying out or giving effect to the FM Act.

 

Paragraph 168(2)(e) of the FM Act provides that regulations may be made providing for the imposition and recovery of fees in respect of the making of applications under the FM Act.

 

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is established by the Fisheries Administration Act 1991 (the FA Act) which provides that AFMA may charge such fees as are reasonable in respect of work done, services provided or information given by AFMA.

 

Regulation 21 of the Fisheries Management Regulations 1992 (the Principal Regulations) currently provides that fees are payable for making various types of applications to AFMA. These are set out in Schedule 2 to the Principal Regulations.

 

AFMA has recently developed a system to enable applications under the FM Act to be submitted to AFMA electronically. Different fees will be required as it will cost less for AFMA to process an application electronically than to process a paper-based application.

 

The Regulations allow the Chief Executive Officer of AFMA (the CEO) to set fees for electronic applications that are lower than the fees currently listed in Schedule 2 for paper-based applications.

 

Under the Regulations, the CEO is able to determine separate fees for applications received by AFMA electronically by using the current fee for paper-based applications and deducting from that fee an amount estimated by the CEO as representing the costs of processing the matter electronically. The difference between the fixed fee and the estimated cost is the applicable fee payable for an electronic application.

The Regulations reduce costs for AFMA in the provision of its services and reduce the fees payable by applicants when submitting an application to AFMA electronically.

 

 

Regulation Impact Statement

 

In view of the low or nil impact on business, the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has advised that neither a Business Cost Calculator Report or a Regulation Impact Statement is required (ID 10286).

 

Consultation

 

Consultation took place in the context of the AFMA Cost Reduction Working Group. The process undertaken included public consultations, discussions with the Commonwealth Fishing Association (CFA) and a decision by the Board in June 2008.

 

A 14 member focus group was formed by AFMA to test and consult on the design and functionality of the AFMA Web Portal (including e-Licensing). The group consisted of industry members across the major fisheries, including the CFA, brokers, companies and individual operators.

 

At the mid year Management Advisory Committee (MAC) meetings in 2008, AFMA provided an update of the proposed online system to all the different AFMA MACs. The MACs noted the proposed changes and indicated that AFMA should proceed to ensure that industry can transact online through the portal. AFMA has provided subsequent updates to the MACs through the relevant managers’ reports, informing development progress and proposed legislative amendments.  

 

AFMA provided an update to the South East Trawl Fishing Industry Association (SETFIA) at its final meeting of 2008. SETFIA agreed that the approach AFMA has commenced for the implementation of e-Business services would be of benefit to concession holders.

 

AFMA consulted with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as well as with the Australian Government Solicitor to ascertain what legislative amendments were needed.

 

The Regulations

 

Details of the Regulations are set out below:

Regulation 1 provides for the Regulations to be cited as the Fisheries Management Amendment Regulation 2009 (No. 2).

Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations will commence on 1 July 2009.

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Fisheries Management Regulations 1992.

Schedule 1 substitutes regulation 21 as follows:

New subregulation 21(1) provides that for paragraph 168(2)(e) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991, the fee payable for an application, registration, inspection or other matter mentioned in an item in Schedule 2, is the fee set out in the item.

New subregulation 21(2) provides a mechanism for calculating the applicable fee for an electronic application. Under the new mechanism, the CEO is allowed to determine fees for applications received by AFMA electronically by using the current fee for paper-based applications and deducting from that fee an amount estimated by the CEO as representing the costs of processing the matter electronically, with the difference being the applicable fee for an electronic application.

New subregulation 21(3) carries over from the current subregulation 21(2) and further provides that no fee is payable for an application for the variation of a condition or conditions of a permit for a boat if the variation pertains to the transfer of quota units of a scheduled species of fish for the same fishery.

New subregulation 21(4) carries over from the current subregulation 21(4) and further provides that no fee is payable for an application for the grant of a port permit for a foreign fishing boat that is engaged in fisheries research activities in collaboration with the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory or an authority of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.

New subregulation 21(5) provides that in these Regulations the term electronic communication has the meaning given by section 5 of the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 and the term scheduled species, in relation to a fishing permit, means a species for which quota units are specified in an attachment to the permit.