{"id":"aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023","name":"Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023","slug":"aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":173533,"registerId":"wa-aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nAboriginal Heritage Act 1972\n\nAboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023\n\nWestern Australia\n\nAboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023\n\nContents\n\nPart 1 — Preliminary\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used 1\n\nPart 2 — Fees under the Act\n\n4. Fees under s. 16 of Act 4\n\n5. Fees under s. 18 of Act 4\n\nPart 3 — General provisions\n\nDivision 1 — Changes to fee payment obligations\n\n6. Fee waiver, reduction or refund 6\n\n7. Extension of time within which to pay fees 6\n\n8. CEO must give notice of waiver or reduction of fee or extension of time 6\n\nDivision 2 — Interest on and recovery of outstanding amounts\n\n9. Interest on outstanding amounts 7\n\n10. Recovery of outstanding amounts 7\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 9\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nAboriginal Heritage Act 1972\n\nAboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023\n\n## Part 1 — Preliminary\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\n\t\tThese regulations are the *Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThese regulations come into operation on the day on which the *Aboriginal Heritage Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2023* section 20 comes into operation.\n\n##### 3. Terms used\n\nIn these regulations —\n\nAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation means a commercial proponent that is —\n\n(a) a corporation registered under the *Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006* (Commonwealth); or\n\n(b) a corporation that —\n\n(i) is registered under the *Corporations Act 2001* (Commonwealth); and\n\n(ii) satisfies the Indigeneity requirement under the *Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006* (Commonwealth) section 29‑5;\n\nbusiness has the same meaning as in the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1997* (Commonwealth);\n\nCEO means the chief executive officer of the Department;\n\ncommercial proponent —\n\n(a) means a person carrying on a business; but\n\n(b) does not include any of the following —\n\n(i) a government proponent;\n\n(ii) a small business;\n\n(iii) a non‑profit organisation;\n\ngovernment proponent —\n\n(a) means —\n\n(i) a department or organisation as those terms are defined in the *Public Sector Management Act 1994* section 3(1); or\n\n(ii) an entity listed in the *Public Sector Management Act 1994* Schedule 1 (other than in items 1 to 4 and 6 to 10);\n\nbut\n\n(b) does not include any of the following —\n\n(i) the Legislative Council or Legislative Assembly;\n\n(ii) a committee of the Legislative Council or Legislative Assembly, or a joint committee or standing committee of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly;\n\n(iii) a Royal Commission;\n\n(iv) a member of, or person who holds an office established under a written law for the purposes of, an entity referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii);\n\nidentified place, in relation to a notice given under section 18(2) of the Act, means a place on the land to which the notice relates —\n\n(a) that is —\n\n(i) recorded as an Aboriginal site in a register under section 38 of the Act; and\n\n(ii) specified in the notice;\n\nor\n\n(b) that is not recorded as an Aboriginal site in a register under section 38 of the Act but is specified in the notice as being —\n\n(i) an Aboriginal site; or\n\n(ii) a place that may be an Aboriginal site;\n\nnon‑profit organisation means an organisation that is not carried on for the purposes of profit or gain to its individual members and is, by the terms of the organisation’s constitution, prohibited from making any distribution, whether in money, property or otherwise, to its members;\n\npayment period, in relation to a fee payable under these regulations, means the period within which the fee must be paid;\n\nproposed investigation site, in relation to a request for the Registrar to give an authorisation under section 16(2) of the Act, means a place (regardless of whether the place is an Aboriginal site) specified in the request as being either or both of the following —\n\n(a) a place that it is proposed to enter, excavate or both;\n\n(b) a place on or under which things are or may be located that are proposed to be examined, removed or both;\n\nsmall business has the meaning given in the *Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983* section 3(1).\n\n## Part 2 — Fees under the Act\n\n##### 4. Fees under s. 16 of Act\n\n(1) A person who requests the Registrar to give an authorisation under section 16(2) of the Act in respect of 1 or more proposed investigation sites is liable to pay a fee of —\n\n(a) unless paragraph (b) applies — $256; or\n\n(b) if the person is a commercial proponent or government proponent — an amount equal to the sum of —\n\n(i) $256; and\n\n(ii) $5 096 multiplied by the number of proposed investigation sites.\n\n(2) The fee must be paid within the period of 14 days after the day on which the request is made.\n\n(3) Despite subregulation (1), an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation is not liable to pay the fee unless the corporation makes the request in connection with an undertaking that is for profit or commercial gain.\n\n[Regulation 4 amended: SL 2025/107 r. 4.]\n\n##### 5. Fees under s. 18 of Act\n\n(1) A person who gives notice to the Committee under section 18(2) of the Act is liable to pay a fee of —\n\n(a) unless paragraph (b) applies — $256; or\n\n(b) if the person is a commercial proponent or government proponent — an amount equal to the sum of —\n\n(i) $256; and\n\n(ii) $5 096 multiplied by the number of identified places specified in the notice.\n\n(2) The fee must be paid within the period of 14 days after the day on which the notice is given.\n\n(3) Despite subregulation (1), an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation is not liable to pay the fee unless the corporation gives the notice in connection with an undertaking that is for profit or commercial gain.\n\n[Regulation 5 amended: SL 2025/107 r. 5.]\n\n## Part 3 — General provisions\n\n### Division 1 — Changes to fee payment obligations\n\n##### 6. Fee waiver, reduction or refund\n\nThe CEO may, on a case‑by‑case basis, refund, reduce or waive, in whole or in part, a fee paid or payable under these regulations if the CEO considers it appropriate to do so.\n\n##### 7. Extension of time within which to pay fees\n\n(1) The CEO may, on application by a person liable to pay a fee under these regulations, extend the payment period in relation to the fee.\n\n(2) An application under subregulation (1) must —\n\n(a) be in writing; and\n\n(b) be made before the end of the payment period.\n\n(3) If the CEO grants an extension after the end of the payment period, these regulations have effect as if the CEO had granted the extension before the end of the period.\n\n##### 8. CEO must give notice of waiver or reduction of fee or extension of time\n\nIf the CEO reduces or waives a fee, or extends a payment period, the CEO must give to the person liable to pay the fee written notice setting out either or both of the following, as applicable —\n\n(a) the new amount of the fee;\n\n(b) the new payment period.\n\n### Division 2 — Interest on and recovery of outstanding amounts\n\n##### 9. Interest on outstanding amounts\n\n(1) A person liable to pay an overdue fee is liable to pay interest on the outstanding amount at the rate set out in subregulation (2).\n\n(2) The rate is a rate 3% higher than the cash rate target, as determined and published by the Reserve Bank of Australia, in effect on the day after the day on which the payment period for the overdue fee ends.\n\n(3) Interest on the outstanding amount accrues on and from the day after the day on which the payment period for the overdue fee ends.\n\n(4) Interest does not accrue on interest that becomes payable under subregulation (1).\n\n##### 10. Recovery of outstanding amounts\n\n(1) The CEO may recover as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction any outstanding amount of an overdue fee, or interest payable under regulation 9(1), from the person liable to pay the outstanding amount or interest.\n\n(2) The CEO may, in a certificate, do 1 or more of the following —\n\n(a) specify an amount as being all or part of an overdue fee;\n\n(b) specify an amount as being interest payable under regulation 9(1);\n\n(c) specify a person as being liable to pay the specified amount or amounts;\n\n(d) state that the specified amount or amounts are unpaid.\n\n(3) In proceedings under subregulation (1), a certificate is, without proof of the appointment of the CEO or of the authenticity of the signature, sufficient evidence of the matters specified or stated.\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023* and includes amendments made by other written laws. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Published** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023* | SL 2023/168 1 Nov 2023 | 15 Nov 2023 (see r. 2 and SL 2023/161 cl. 2) |\n| *Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Amendment Regulations 2025* | SL 2025/107 25 Jun 2025 | r. 1 and 2: 25 Jun 2025 (see r. 2(a));   Regulations other than r. 1 and 2: 1 Jul 2025 (see r. 2(b)) |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporation 3\n\nbusiness 3\n\nCEO 3\n\ncommercial proponent 3\n\ngovernment proponent 3\n\nidentified place 3\n\nnon-profit organisation 3\n\npayment period 3\n\nproposed investigation site 3\n\nsmall business 3\n\n© State of Western Australia 2025.\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). To view relevant information and for a link to a copy of the licence, visit www.legislation.wa.gov.au.\n\nAttribute work as: © State of Western Australia 2025.\n\nBy Authority: GEOFF O. LAWN, Government Printer\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose of establishing a fee structure for Aboriginal heritage applications. The 2025 amendments (SL 2025/107) added exemptions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations acting non-commercially, which refined rather than expanded the scope."},"complexity_factors":["10 defined terms in the interpretation section (regulation 3), including nested definitions where terms like 'commercial proponent' exclude other defined terms ('small business', 'non-profit organisation', 'government proponent')","Cross-references to 5 external Commonwealth and State statutes (Corporations Act 2001, Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006, Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Public Sector Management Act 1994, Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983)","Conditional fee calculations with tiered pricing structure (flat fee vs. variable fee based on number of sites)","Exception to the exception in regulations 4(3) and 5(3): Aboriginal corporations are exempt unless acting for profit","Retrospective effect provision in regulation 7(3) allowing extensions granted after deadline to be treated as if granted before","Self-executing interest calculation mechanism tied to external Reserve Bank cash rate target"],"plain_english_summary":"This Western Australian regulation sets out the fees that people and organisations must pay when they want to access or disturb Aboriginal heritage sites.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Charges fees for two main activities:**\n  1. **Investigating sites** (Section 16): If you want permission to enter, excavate, or examine land that might contain Aboriginal heritage items, you must pay a fee.\n  2. **Giving notice of impact** (Section 18): If you're planning work that might affect a known or suspected Aboriginal site and need to notify the authorities, you must pay a fee.\n\n**Who pays what:**\n- **Most people** pay a flat fee of **$256**.\n- **Commercial and government proponents** (businesses and government agencies) pay much more: **$256 plus $5,096 for each site** they want to access or affect.\n- **Small businesses, non-profits, and government bodies** (like Parliament and Royal Commissions) are exempt from the higher commercial rates.\n- **Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations** don't pay fees unless they're doing the work for commercial profit.\n\n**Payment rules:**\n- Fees must be paid within **14 days** of making the request or giving notice.\n- The CEO can **waive, reduce, or refund** fees in special cases.\n- The CEO can grant **extensions** to pay if you apply in writing before the deadline.\n- **Interest** (at Reserve Bank cash rate plus 3%) applies to late payments.\n- Unpaid fees can be **recovered as a debt** through the courts.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis regulation creates a two-tiered fee system that makes it cheaper for individuals, community groups, and Indigenous organisations to engage with Aboriginal heritage protection, while charging businesses and government agencies higher fees to cover administrative costs. It balances access to heritage sites with the need to fund the regulatory system."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The fee provisions in regs 4 and 5 were amended by SL 2025/107 (see amendment notes after regs 4 and 5 and compilation table). The current text (as amended) sets the present fee structure (base fee plus per‑site charges for commercial and government proponents) and restates conditional exemptions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations; those amendments came into operation per the compilation table (regulations other than r.1 and r.2: 1 Jul 2025)."},"complexity_factors":["Differentiated fee formula: base fee plus a per‑site multiplier for commercial and government proponents (regs 4(1)(b), 5(1)(b)).","Exemptions and conditional liability: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations exempt unless acting for profit; definitions determine who is a commercial proponent (reg 3; regs 4(3), 5(3)).","CEO discretion: unilateral power to waive, reduce or refund fees and to extend payment periods, with notice obligations (regs 6–8).","Payment timing and administrative burden: standard 14‑day payment period and requirement that extension applications be in writing and made before period end (regs 4(2), 5(2), 7(1)–(2)).","Interest calculation tied to an external benchmark: interest at RBA cash rate + 3%, beginning the day after the payment period ends (reg 9(1)–(3)).","Recovery and evidentiary shortcut: CEO may recover amounts as a debt and issue a certificate that is sufficient evidence in proceedings (reg 10(1)–(3)).","Multiple defined terms and cross‑references: numerous definitions in reg 3 (eg. commercial proponent, government proponent, identified place) affect application and liability."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the fees, timing, interest and recovery rules for requests and notices under the Aboriginal Heritage Act. They specify base and per‑site charges for commercial and government proponents, exemptions for some Aboriginal corporations and non‑profit actors, and a 14‑day payment window. The CEO may waive or reduce fees, extend payment periods, and recover unpaid amounts with interest linked to the Reserve Bank cash rate."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative content was not available for analysis. The title suggests a narrow, administrative instrument dealing solely with fee schedules under Aboriginal heritage legislation, which is consistent with a tightly scoped subordinate instrument."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the source page returned a 404-style unavailability notice","Fee regulations are typically among the simplest legislative instruments, consisting largely of schedules listing fees","Unable to assess actual complexity without access to the document text"],"plain_english_summary":"## Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023 — Western Australia\n\n**The legislation content could not be retrieved.** The source page for these regulations is no longer available on the Western Australian legislation website, likely due to a system migration or URL restructuring.\n\n**What we do know:**\n- These are **Regulations** (subordinate rules that support a parent Act) made under Western Australia's Aboriginal heritage law framework\n- Based on the title, they would set out **fees** payable for things like permit applications, heritage surveys, or administrative processes under the Aboriginal Heritage Act\n- They would likely affect **developers, mining companies, land owners, Aboriginal communities, and government agencies** who interact with Aboriginal heritage protection processes in WA\n\n**To access the actual regulations**, visit the [Western Australian Legislation website](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au) and search for \"Aboriginal Heritage (Fees) Regulations 2023\" directly."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023","history":"/api/acts/aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023/history","analysis":"/api/acts/aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/aboriginal-heritage-fees-regulations-2023/documents"}}