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
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety
(Licence Charges) Bill 1998
Date Introduced: 11 November 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Health and Aged Care
Commencement: On the day upon which the
proposed Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act
1998 commences.
To provide a
capacity for annual charges to be made for licences issued under
the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Bill
1998.
An earlier version of this Bill was introduced
into the 38th Parliament of Australia on 8 April 1998.
That Bill was passed by the House of Representatives and although
it was introduced into the Senate, the second reading debate was
not concluded before Parliament was prorogued. This document
reproduces Bill Digest No. 212 prepared for the initial Bill by
Susan Downing, with only technical amendments.
This Bill is one of a package of three Bills:
the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Bill 1998,
the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (Licence
Charges) Bill 1998 and the Australian Radiation Protection and
Nuclear Safety (Consequential Amendments) Bill 1998. For a
background on this Bill please refer to the Bills Digest on the
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Bill 1998.
Section 55 of the Constitution provides
that:
Laws imposing taxation shall deal only with the
imposition of taxation, and any provision therein dealing with any
other matter shall be of no effect.
Laws imposing taxation, except laws imposing duties
of customs or of excise, shall deal with one subject of taxation
only; but laws imposing duties of customs shall deal with duties of
customs only, and laws imposing duties of excise shall deal with
duties of excise only.
As annual charges are regarded as taxes, this
Bill, which imposes an annual licence fee on people operating a
radiation or nuclear facility or on departments holding a source
licence, is required to be separate from the Australian Radiation
Protection and Nuclear Safety Bill 1998.
Proposed section 4 imposes an annual charge on a
person who, at any time in the relevant financial year, held a
facility licence. A facility licence will be issued under proposed
section 20 of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear
Safety Bill 1998 to a controlled person (defined to include a
Commonwealth entity, contractor, an employee of the Commonwealth or
a person in a prescribed Commonwealth place) to construct, operate,
own or de-commission nuclear installations or radiation facilities.
The amount of the charge will be determined by the regulations.
Proposed section 5 imposes an
annual charge on a person who, at any time in the relevant
financial year, held a source licence. A source licence may be
issued under proposed section 21 of the Australian Radiation
Protection and Nuclear Safety Bill 1998 to a controlled person who
deals with either a controlled apparatus or controlled material or
both. The amount of the charge will be determined by the
regulations.
Susan Downing and Krysti Guest
24 November 1998
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared for general distribution to
Senators and Members of the Australian Parliament. While great care
is taken to ensure that the paper is accurate and balanced, the
paper is written using information publicly available at the time
of production. The views expressed are those of the author and
should not be attributed to the Information and Research Services
(IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in
this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for
related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional
legal opinion. Readers are reminded that the paper is not an
official parliamentary or Australian government document.
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 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1998
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
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
1998.
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