David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, upon notice, on 1 November 2012:

For each department and agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act1997 and each Commonwealth authority under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act1997 within the Minister's portfolio:

(1) How many Australian Public Service full-time equivalent staff are engaged by each department, agency and authority in relation to the: (a) creation; (b) administration or management; and (c) enforcement of new or existing Acts of Parliament, legislative instruments and quasi-regulation.

(2) What and how many: (a) compliance requirements; (b) industry guidelines; (c) best practice procedures; (d) codes of conduct; and (e) any other industrial manuals/documents, have been created since December 2007.

(3) Was an Annual Regulatory Plan completed for each of the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13 financial years, and will a plan be completed for the 2013-14 financial year.

(4) For the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13 financial years: (a) how many pieces of regulation, including Acts of Parliament, legislative instruments and quasi-regulation, were included in each Annual Regulatory Plan; and (b) were the same, more or fewer pieces of regulation passed as anticipated in each Annual Regulatory Plan: (i) if more, which pieces of regulation were passed in addition to the plan, and (i) if fewer, which pieces of regulation were not passed and why were they not passed.

(5) Does each department, agency and authority assess the total costs associated with its regulatory measures; if so: (a) what is the total: (i) direct, and (ii) indirect, regulatory cost burden that each department, agency and authority imposes on the non-government sector; and (b) how much regulatory cost has each department, agency and authority: (i) imposed, and (ii) removed, from the non-government sector since August 2010.

(6) Does each department, agency and authority impose a cost-recovery scheme on the non-government sector; if so: (a) what are the cost-recovery programs; (b) what fees are currently being imposed; and (c) in each case, by how much have these fees increased since August 2010.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister representing the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) As at 6 December 2012, the Department, the Clean Energy Regulator and the Climate Change Authority had 1,006.19 [627.2 plus 353.79 plus 25.2] Australian Public Service full-time equivalent employees. Low Carbon Australia Limited staff members are not Australian Public Service employees. The Department and the agencies within the portfolio do not centrally maintain records that identify the function or role of positions relevant to the creation; administration or management; and enforcement of new or existing Acts of Parliament, legislative instruments and quasi-regulation. Given the very broad nature of the question attempting to answer this question would cause an unreasonable diversion of resources.

(2) The Department and the agencies withing the portfolio do not centrally maintain a register of what and how many compliance requirements; industry guidelines; best practice procedures; codes of conduct; and any other industrial manuals/documents. Given the very broad nature of the question attempting to answer this question would cause an unreasonable diversion of resources.

(3-5) Annual Regulatory Plans are managed within the Finance and Deregulation portfolio. Please refer to the response provided by the Minister for Finance and Deregulation to question 2469.

(6) Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency

(a) Yes, the Department imposes a cost-recovery scheme on the non-government sector. Under the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (Registration Fees) Act 2012 the Australian Greenhouse and Energy Minimum (GEMS) Regulator is able to set registration fees for regulated products. Registration fees recover a portion of the costs incurred in registering products and monitoring compliance with the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 (GEMS Act 2012).

(b) Registration fees are charged when businesses supplying or importing regulated products register their product on the Energy Rating website. Registration fees range from $440 to $780 per registration and are calculated according to the cost of registering products and the costs involved in monitoring compliance for different product types.

(c) Not applicable. The GEMS Act 2012 commenced on 1 October 2012.

Clean Energy Regulator

(a) Yes, Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 and related Regulations impose various fees on participants including non-government sector.

(b) The fees are set under Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulations 2001. Attachment A is an excerpt from the regulations showing the current fees.

(c) From 17 October 2011 certificate creation fee for Small-scale Technology Certificates (STC) created by Small Generation Units such as small size solar Photovoltaic, wind and hydro systems was increased from 8 to 47 cents per STC.

The Climate Change Authority and Low Carbon Australia Limited do not impose cost-recovery schemes on the non-government sector

Attachment A

28 Fees

(1) For paragraph 10 (2) (d) of the Act:

(a) the fee for an application for registration is $20; and

(b) the fee for an application for registration as a person to whom certificates may be assigned under subsection 23 (2) or 23C (2) of the Act is $250.

(2) For paragraphs 12A (2) (f) and 13 (2) (e) of the Act, the fee for an application for provisional accreditation or accreditation is:

(3) For subsection 26 (3A) of the Act, the fee for registration of a certificate is:

(a) for a small-scale technology certificate created on or after 17 October 2011 for a small generation unit:

  (i) for the first 250 certificates registered—nil;

  (ii) for the 251st certificate registered—$117.97;

  (iii) for each certificate registered after the 251st certificate—47 cents; and

(b) for any other certificate:

  (i) for the first 250 certificates registered—nil;

  (ii) for the 251st certificate registered—$20.08;

  (iii) for each certificate registered after the 251st certificate—8 cents.

(4) For subsection 45E (1) of the Act, the fee for the surrender of a certificate under Subdivision A of Division 1 of Part 5 of the Act is 8 cents.

(5) For section 98 of the Act, the administration fee for a certificate surrendered by a liable entity under section 95 of the Act for a charge year is:

where:

total of certificate values is the total of the certificate values of all certificates surrendered by the liable entity under paragraph 95 (1) (b) for that year.

number of certificates is the number of certificates surrendered by the liable entity under section 95 for that year.

P is:

(a) if the total of certificate values for the number of certificates surrendered for the charge year is less than $1000—2%; or

(b) if the total of certificate values for the number of certificates surrendered for the charge year is at least $1000 but less than $5000—1.5%; or

(c) if the total of certificate values for the number of certificates surrendered for the charge year is at least $5000 but less than $15000—1%; or

(d) if the total of certificate values for the number of certificates surrendered for the charge year is $15000 or more—0.5%.

Note: For the meaning of certificate value, see section 96 of the Act.