Updating the spectrum licence tax

We received one submission from the Australian Telecommunication Alliance in response to the consultation. You can access this at the bottom of the page.

After considering the matters raised in the submission, we made the Radiocommunications (Spectrum Licence Tax) Amendment Determination 2026 (No.1). We have updated the EME Component for 2026–27 to $2,217,676.06, consistent with the change proposed in the consultation paper.

The submission noted the value of the EME Program and did not object to the proposed indexation of the EME Component. However, it sought greater transparency regarding how EME Component funding is allocated and used. The ACMA notes this feedback and that the EME Component is intended to broadly offset wider government expenditure on EME-related research and engagement activities.

We have provided this feedback to the entities responsible for delivering elements on the EME Program:

• the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts
• the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.

If you would like further information about the administration of EME-related funding arrangements, you can contact these entities directly.

We are proposing to update the total annual EME Component of spectrum licence tax from $2,134,433.17 to $2,217,676.06 in line with annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) growth to the June 2026 quarter of 3.9%. This will be done by amending the Radiocommunications (Spectrum Licence Tax) Determination 2021 (the SLT Determination).

Spectrum licence tax is imposed on spectrum licences on 11 October of each year. There are 2 components to the spectrum licence tax: 

1. Main Component
2. EME Component. 

Read more about spectrum licence taxes. 

From 2023–24 and each subsequent financial year, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Modifications to Apparatus and Spectrum Licence Taxes) Direction 2020 requires us to collect a total annual EME Component of no more than $1.9 million, indexed by the CPI.