WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Telecommunications (Universal Service Levy) Bill
1996
Date Introduced: 5 December 1996
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Communications and the Arts
Commencement: The Act commences on 1 July
1997.
This Bill is a part of a package of Bills, the purpose of which
is to implement a new regulatory framework for the
telecommunications industry.The purpose of this bill is to impose a
levy on carriers for their share of the cost of fulfilling the
universal service obligation.
The object of the universal service regime is to ensure that all
people in Australia, wherever they reside or carry on business,
should have reasonable access, on an equitable basis to a standard
telephone service, payphones and prescribed carriage services
(clause 134 of the Telecommunications Bill 1996).
The losses resulting from supplying loss-making services in the
course of fulfilling the universal service obligation are to be
shared among carriers (clause 134 of the Telecommunications
Bill 1996).This is done by calculating a levy debit for each
carrier. The levy debit is calculated as the proportion that that
carrier's revenue bears to the total revenue of all carriers
multiplied by total universal service cost (clause 187 of the
Telecommunications Bill 1996).
Clauses 6 to 8 of the
Telecommunications (Universal Service Levy) Bill 1996
impose a levy equal to the levy debit of each carrier on that
carrier.
Lee Jones
5 February 1997
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This Digest does not have any official legal status. Other
sources should be consulted to determine whether the Bill has been
enacted and, if so, whether the subsequent Act reflects further
amendments.
IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's contents
with Senators and Members and their staff but not with members of
the public.
ISSN 1323-9031
Commonwealth of Australia 1996
Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior
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of the Australian Parliament in the course of their official
duties.
Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
1997.
This page was prepared by the Parliamentary Library,
Commonwealth of Australia
Last updated: 26 March 1997
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