Review of fees and charges under cost recovery arrangements
Submissions
The submission date has now closed and the ACMA received the following submissions in response to the consultation paper:
- Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association and Communications Alliance Ltd.
- Brinley Reginal Taylor
- Macquarie Telecom
- Telstra Corporation Limited
Background
The ACMA is seeking views on its review of existing fees and charges under cost recovery arrangements, which was undertaken in accordance with the Australian Government Cost Recovery Guidelines. To support the consultation process, the ACMA has released a discussion paper to provide information on the process and outcomes of the review.
As specified in the guidelines, the ACMA is required to conduct a review of its cost recovery arrangements within every five years. The existing fees and charges were last reviewed in 2007 and have not been updated since that time.
The current review examines an extensive range of the ACMA’s activities that are covered in the existing charges determination for radiocommunications, telecommunications and broadcasting services. The review also includes miscellaneous charges for the products and services the ACMA provides. Other fees and charges which are subject to more frequent reviews are excluded from the review.
The basis for establishing cost recovery fees and charges is outlined in section 60 of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (the ACMA Act). This provides that the ACMA may, by written instrument, make determinations fixing charges for services provided by the ACMA and in relation to any matter in which expenses are incurred by the ACMA under this Act, the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999, the Radiocommunications Act 1992 and the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.
The ACMA also collects other revenue on behalf of the government from industry participants through taxation arrangements. These revenues are set by relevant legislations and are outside the scope of the cost recovery review.
The ACMA seeks feedback on the following matters related to its cost recovery arrangements:
- the proposed fees and charges in relation to radiocommunications, telecommunications, broadcasting services and miscellaneous fees as disclosed in the discussion paper
- the efficiency and equity of cost recovery fees and charges
- the transparency of ACMA’s approach to cost recovery arrangements.
The discussion paper (Word 319 kb or PDF 301 kb) and Attachment A (Word 696 kb or PDF 497 kb) are available on the ACMA website.
Submissions
Submissions should be forwarded by close of business 21 December 2011 to:
The Manager
Cost Recovery Review
Australian Communications and Media Authority
PO Box Q500
Queen Victoria Building
NSW 1230
Electronic submissions can be forwarded to costrecoveryteam@acma.gov.au.
Publication of submissions
In general, the ACMA publishes all submissions it receives.
The ACMA prefers to receive submissions that are not claimed to be confidential. However, the ACMA accepts that a submitter may sometimes wish to provide information in confidence. In these circumstances, submitters are asked to identify the material over which confidentiality is claimed and provide a written explanation for the claim.
The ACMA will consider each confidentiality claim on a case-by-case basis. If the ACMA accepts a claim, it will not publish the confidential information unless authorised or required by law to do so.
Release of submissions where authorised or required by law
Any submissions provided to the ACMA may be released under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (unless an exemption applies) or shared with other Commonwealth Government agencies under Part 7A of the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005. The ACMA may also be required to release submissions for other reasons including for the purpose of parliamentary processes or where otherwise required by law (for example, under a court subpoena). While the ACMA seeks to consult submitters of confidential information before that information is provided to another party, the ACMA cannot guarantee that confidential information will not be released through these or other legal means.
