{"id":"C2017A00043","name":"ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Act 2017","slug":"asic-supervisory-cost-recovery-levy-act-2017","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"43 of 2017","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":8581,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2017A00043-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n This Act is the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Act 2017.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n```html\n

Commencement information

Column 1

Column 2

Column 3

Provisions

Commencement

Date/Details

1. The whole of this Act

1 July 2017.

1 July 2017

\n```\n\n> Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act binds the Crown","content":"#### 3 Act binds the Crown\n\n This Act binds the Crown in right of each of the States, of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Northern Territory. However, it does not bind the Crown in right of the Commonwealth.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"External Territories","content":"#### 4 External Territories\n\n This Act extends to every external Territory.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Extraterritorial application","content":"#### 5 Extraterritorial application\n\n This Act extends to acts, omissions, matters and things outside Australia.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act does not impose levy on property of a State","content":"#### 6 Act does not impose levy on property of a State\n\n (1) This Act does not impose a tax on property of any kind belonging to a State.\n (2) In this section, property of any kind belonging to a State has the same meaning as in section 114 of the Constitution.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definitions","content":"#### 7 Definitions\n\n In this Act:\n\n> ASIC means the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.\n\n> audit entity means:\n\n (a) a registered company auditor (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (b) a partnership or unincorporated association that is an audit firm (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (c) an audit company (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (d) an authorised audit company (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (e) an individual auditor (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (f) a person regulated by ASIC who is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations.\n\n> company‑like entity means:\n\n (a) a Part 5.1 body (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (b) a Part 5.7 body (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (c) a body (other than a company) that is a disclosing entity under subsection 111AC(1) of the Corporations Act 2001; or\n (d) a person regulated by ASIC who is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations.\n\n> credit services entity means:\n\n (a) a licensee within the meaning of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009; or\n (b) a person who is exempt from the operation of section 29 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (which is about the requirement to hold a credit licence) under any of the following provisions of that Act:\n (i) paragraph 109(1)(a);\n (ii) paragraph 109(3)(a);\n (iii) paragraph 110(a);\n but only if the person is required to notify ASIC that the person is so exempt; or\n (c) a person who contravenes section 29 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009; or\n (d) a person regulated by ASIC who is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations.\n\n> exempt entity, for a financial year, means a regulated entity that is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations for the financial year.\n\n> financial services entity means:\n\n (a) a financial services licensee (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (b) an RSE licensee; or\n (c) a person who is exempt from the requirement in section 911A of the Corporations Act 2001 to hold an Australian financial services licence for a financial service under any of the following provisions of that Act:\n (i) subsection 911A(2);\n (ii) paragraph 926A(2)(a);\n (iii) paragraph 926B(1)(a);\n but only if the person is required to notify ASIC that the person is so exempt; or\n (d) a person who contravenes subsection 911A(1) of the Corporations Act 2001; or\n (e) a person regulated by ASIC who is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations.\n\n> leviable entity, for a financial year, means a person who:\n\n (a) is a regulated entity at any time in the financial year; and\n (b) is not an exempt entity for the financial year.\n\n> liquidator entity means:\n\n (a) a registered liquidator (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (b) a person regulated by ASIC who is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations.\n\n> market infrastructure entity means:\n\n (a) a market licensee (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (b) a person who operates a financial market that is exempt under section 791C from the operation of Part 7.2 of the Corporations Act 2001; or\n (c) a person who is exempt under paragraph 907D(2)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 from the operation of section 905A of that Act, but only if the person is required to notify ASIC that the person is so exempt; or\n (d) a person who:\n (i) is a participant (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001) in a licensed market; or\n (ii) would be such a participant if paragraph (b) of the definition of participant in section 9 of that Act covered a person who is allowed to indirectly participate in the facility or market concerned; or\n (e) a CS facility licensee (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (f) a person who operates a clearing and settlement facility that is exempt under section 820C from the operation of Part 7.3 of the Corporations Act 2001; or\n (g) a derivative trade repository licensee (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (ga) a benchmark administrator licensee (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); or\n (h) a person who contravenes section 791A of the Corporations Act 2001 (which is about the requirement to hold a market licence); or\n (i) a person who contravenes section 820A of the Corporations Act 2001 (which is about the requirement to hold an Australian CS facility licence); or\n (j) a person who contravenes section 905A of the Corporations Act 2001 (which is about the requirement for certain derivative trade repositories to be licensed); or\n (ja) a person who:\n (i) administers a significant financial benchmark (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001); and\n (ii) contravenes subsection 908BA(1) of that Act (which is about the requirement to hold a benchmark administrator licence) in relation to that financial benchmark; or\n (k) a person regulated by ASIC who is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations.\n\n> person has a meaning affected by section 12.\n\n> regulated entity means:\n\n (a) a company that is registered under the Corporations Act 2001; or\n (b) a financial services entity; or\n (c) a credit services entity; or\n (d) a market infrastructure entity; or\n (e) an audit entity; or\n (f) a liquidator entity; or\n (g) a company‑like entity; or\n (h) a person regulated by ASIC who is in a class of persons prescribed by the regulations.\n\n> regulatory costs, for a financial year, has the meaning given by section 10.\n\n> RSE licensee has the same meaning as in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.\n\n> sector means:\n\n (a) if the regulations specify sectors—a group of one or more entities each of which meets the criteria specified in the regulations for the sector; or\n (b) otherwise—a group of one or more entities each of which satisfies a particular paragraph of the definition of regulated entity.\n\n> Note: An entity may form part of more than one sector.\n\n> sub‑sector means a group of one or more entities each of which meets the criteria specified in the regulations for the sub‑sector.\n\n> Note: An entity may form part of more than one sub‑sector.","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"8","sectionType":"section","heading":"Imposition of levy","content":"#### 8 Imposition of levy\n\n Levy payable in accordance with section 8 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Act 2017 is imposed.","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"9","sectionType":"section","heading":"Amount of levy","content":"#### 9 Amount of levy\n\n (1) The amount of levy payable by a leviable entity for a financial year is the amount worked out in accordance with the regulations.\n Objectives\n (2) The objectives are:\n (a) that the total amount of levy payable by all leviable entities in relation to a financial year equals the amount of ASIC’s regulatory costs for the financial year; and\n (b) that the total amount of levy payable by all leviable entities in a particular sector or sub‑sector in a financial year equals the amount of ASIC’s regulatory costs relating to that sector or sub‑sector for that financial year.\n (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), disregard the effect of section 15 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Act 2017 (about waiver of levy payable).\n Regulations\n (4) Before the Governor‑General makes regulations under subsection (1), the Minister must be satisfied that the regulations are consistent with the objectives stated in subsection (2).\n (5) Without limiting subsection (1), the regulations may do one or more of the following:\n (a) specify an amount or a method for determining an amount;\n (b) specify different amounts or methods for different classes of leviable entities, different sectors or different sub‑sectors;\n (c) specify a nil amount, or a method resulting in a nil amount;\n (d) specify methods that refer to acts done or circumstances existing before either the commencement of the regulations or the commencement of this Act, or both.\n Annual legislative instrument\n (6) Regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1) may provide for ASIC to make, by legislative instrument, for each financial year, a determination specifying one or more of the following:\n (a) amounts to be used for that financial year in a method or methods specified in the regulations;\n (b) the number of leviable entities in a particular class, sector or sub‑sector in that financial year.\n (7) Before ASIC makes a legislative instrument as mentioned in subsection (6) for a financial year, ASIC must be satisfied, having regard to information provided to ASIC, that the legislative instrument is consistent with the objectives stated in subsection (2).\n (8) A legislative instrument made by ASIC as mentioned in subsection (6) may only be made, for a financial year, after the last day by which returns relating to the financial year must be lodged with ASIC under section 11 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Act 2017.\n Retrospective application of instruments\n (9) Subsection 12(2) (retrospective application of legislative instruments) of the Legislation Act 2003 does not apply in relation to the following:\n (a) regulations made for the purposes of subsection (1);\n (b) a legislative instrument made by ASIC as mentioned in subsection (6).","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"10","sectionType":"section","heading":"Meaning of regulatory costs","content":"#### 10 Meaning of regulatory costs\n\n (1) ASIC’s regulatory costs for a financial year means the amount determined in an instrument under subsection (2) for the financial year.\n (2) ASIC must, by legislative instrument, make a determination:\n (a) specifying the amount of its regulatory costs for a financial year; and\n (b) specifying the extent to which those costs are attributable to each sub‑sector.\n Limit on amount of regulatory costs\n (3) The amount determined by ASIC under paragraph (2)(a) must not exceed the sum of all amounts appropriated by the Parliament for the purposes of ASIC for the financial year.\n Amounts that ASIC must not include\n (4) In determining an amount for a financial year under paragraph (2)(a), ASIC must not include the following amounts:\n (a) amounts relating directly to the regulation of persons and entities that are not leviable entities;\n (b) costs giving rise to amounts debited from a special account established under paragraph 78(1)(a) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013;\n (c) amounts prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.\n Amounts that ASIC may include\n (5) In determining an amount for a financial year under paragraph (2)(a), ASIC may, subject to subsection (4), include the following amounts:\n (a) costs relating directly or indirectly to the regulation of leviable entities;\n (b) without limiting paragraph (a), costs relating to the following:\n (i) surveillance;\n (ii) education;\n (iii) guidance;\n (iv) engagement with industry;\n (v) policy advice;\n (c) the total of all amounts that, in the financial year, are debited against an appropriation and credited to a special account of the kind referred to in paragraph (4)(b) (even if the debits from the special account in the financial year fall short of the amount of those credits);\n (d) depreciation of capital costs, whether the costs were incurred before, on or after the commencement of this Act;\n (e) amounts prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.\n\n> Note: An Appropriation Act provides for amounts to be credited to a special account if any of the purposes of the account is a purpose that is covered by an item in the Appropriation Act.\n\n Adjustment for under or over collection in prior year\n (6) If the amount of levy collected in relation to a financial year falls short of, or exceeds, the amount of ASIC’s regulatory costs for the financial year, ASIC must, in making an instrument under subsection (2):\n (a) for an excess of collected levy—reduce the amount of its regulatory costs for the following financial year by the amount of the excess; or\n (b) for a shortfall of collected levy—increase the amount of its regulatory costs for the following financial year by the amount of the shortfall, to the extent the shortfall does not arise because of section 15 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Act 2017 (about waiver of levy payable).\n Attributing regulatory costs to sub‑sectors\n (7) In determining, for the purposes of paragraph (2)(b), the extent to which regulatory costs for a financial year are attributable to a sub‑sector, ASIC must have regard to the following principles:\n (a) costs relating to the direct regulation of leviable entities in particular sub‑sectors are attributed to that sub‑sector;\n (b) costs relating indirectly to the regulation of leviable entities are attributed to each sub‑sector in proportion to the regulatory resources dedicated to that sub‑sector;\n (c) an excess or shortfall that creates an adjustment under subsection (6) is attributable to the sub‑sector in which the excess or shortfall arose;\n (d) amounts credited to a special account as referred to in paragraph (5)(c) are to be attributed, over time and in a reasonable manner, to the sub‑sectors to which the costs giving rise to debits to the special account relate.\n Retrospective application of instruments\n (8) Subsection 12(2) (retrospective application of legislative instruments) of the Legislation Act 2003 does not apply in relation to the following:\n (a) regulations made for the purposes of paragraph (4)(c) or (5)(e);\n (b) a legislative instrument made for the purposes of subsection (2).","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"11","sectionType":"section","heading":"Disallowance and effect of instruments","content":"#### 11 Disallowance and effect of instruments\n\n (1) This section applies to the following:\n (a) an instrument made by ASIC as mentioned in subsection 9(6);\n (b) an instrument made by ASIC under subsection 10(2).\n Disallowance\n (2) The Legislation Act 2003 applies to the instrument as if:\n (a) references in sections 42 and 47 of that Act to 15 sitting days were instead references to 5 sitting days; and\n (b) subsection 42(2) provided that an instrument or provision specified in a notice of motion to which that subsection applies is taken not to have been disallowed (instead of being taken to have been disallowed and to cease at that time to have effect).\n When instrument takes effect\n (3) If neither House of Parliament passes a resolution disallowing the instrument or a provision of the instrument, the instrument takes effect:\n (a) on the day immediately after the last day upon which such a resolution could have been passed; or\n (b) if a later day is specified in the instrument—on that later day.\n (4) If either House of Parliament passes a resolution disallowing a provision of the instrument, the remaining provisions of the instrument take effect:\n (a) on the day immediately after the last day upon which a resolution disallowing the instrument or a provision of the instrument could have been passed; or\n (b) if a later day is specified in the instrument—on that later day.\n (5) If either House of Parliament passes a resolution disallowing the instrument, the instrument does not take effect.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"12","sectionType":"section","heading":"Treatment of partnerships, unincorporated associations and multiple trustees","content":"#### 12 Treatment of partnerships, unincorporated associations and multiple trustees\n\n Application to partnerships\n (1) This Act applies to a partnership as if the partnership were a person. However, obligations that would be imposed on the partnership are imposed instead on each partner, but may be discharged by any of the partners.\n Application to unincorporated associations\n (2) This Act applies to an unincorporated association as if the unincorporated association were a person. However, an obligation that would otherwise be imposed on the association is imposed on each member of the association’s committee of management instead, but may be discharged by any of the members.\n Application to RSE licensee that is a group of individual trustees\n (3) This Act applies to an RSE licensee that is a group of individual trustees as if the group were a person. However, an obligation that would otherwise be imposed on the group is imposed on each individual, but may be discharged by any of the individuals.\n Application to multiple trustees treated as single entity\n (4) Subsections (5), (6) and (7) apply if a trustee or trustees of a trust are treated during a period as constituting:\n (a) a single legal entity (the notional entity) under section 761FA of the Corporations Act 2001; or\n (b) a single person (also the notional entity) under section 15 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.\n (5) This Act applies to the notional entity during the period as if the notional entity were a person, but with the changes set out in subsections (6) and (7).\n (6) During the period, or any part of the period, that the trust has 2 or more trustees, an obligation that would otherwise be imposed on the notional entity by this Act is imposed instead on each trustee, but may be discharged by any of the trustees.\n (7) During the period, or any part of the period, that the trust has only one trustee, an obligation that would otherwise be imposed on the notional entity by this Act is imposed instead on that single trustee.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"13","sectionType":"section","heading":"Regulations","content":"#### 13 Regulations\n\n The Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters:\n (a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed by the regulations; or\n (b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.","sortOrder":12}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the text supplied (the Act as originally enacted and its commencement information), there is no indication within this document that the Act’s scope has been altered from its original intent. The Act as drafted defines the classes of entities subject to levy, the decision‑making and attribution mechanics, and limits on recoverable costs; nothing in the provided text shows later amendments or a changed scope."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive and detailed definitions of many categories of regulated entities and leviable entities (section 7), requiring cross‑reference to other statutes for some meaning.","Multiple delegated rule‑making layers: Governor‑General regulations, Ministerial consistency check, and ASIC annual legislative instruments (sections 9(4), 9(5)–(6), 13).","Interlocking numerical mechanics: ASIC determines regulatory costs, regulations/ASIC instruments convert those costs into amounts for entities/sectors, and adjustments for under/over collection carry forward (sections 9, 10(2), 10(6)).","Limits and exclusions on what costs may be included, and a statutory cap tied to parliamentary appropriations (sections 10(3)–(5)).","Procedural modifications to parliamentary disallowance and to retrospective operation of instruments (sections 9(9), 10(8), 11), which change usual legislative instrument controls.","Cross‑instrument dependencies: this Act refers to the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Act 2017 for collection mechanics and return lodgement timing (section 8 and section 9(8)), creating operational interdependence.","Special treatment rules for partnerships, unincorporated associations and multiple trustees to allocate obligations to individuals (section 12).","Extraterritorial application and Crown‑binding exceptions that affect scope (sections 3–5, 6)."],"plain_english_summary":"What this law does, in straightforward terms\n\n- Mechanically, the Act creates a legal framework for imposing a supervisory cost‑recovery levy to fund the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). It sets who can be levied, how the aggregate levy total is set, how costs are allocated across sectors, and who makes the detailed rules (regulations and ASIC instruments) (see sections 8–11, 13).\n\n- Who pays: Entities that are \"leviable entities\" for a financial year — that is, persons who are \"regulated entities\" (broadly defined to include companies registered under the Corporations Act, financial services licensees, credit services entities, market infrastructure entities, auditors, liquidators, company‑like bodies and other classes prescribed by regulation) unless they are prescribed as \"exempt entities\" (see definitions in section 7 and the levy imposition in section 9). The Act also specifies how partnerships, unincorporated associations and multiple trustees are treated so obligations fall on partners, committee members or individual trustees (section 12).\n\n- How the total levy is set: ASIC must determine its regulatory costs for each financial year by a legislative instrument (section 10). The Act requires that the total levy charged to leviable entities in a year equals ASIC’s regulatory costs for that year, and that levies allocated to particular sectors or sub‑sectors equal the regulatory costs attributed to those sectors or sub‑sectors (section 9(2)).\n\n- Limits on what can be recovered: ASIC’s determined regulatory costs cannot exceed amounts appropriated by Parliament for ASIC in that financial year (section 10(3)). The Act also lists types of amounts that must not be included in the regulatory‑costs figure (section 10(4)) and types that may be included (section 10(5)).\n\n- Allocation and adjustment mechanics: ASIC must specify, in its instrument, how much of its total regulatory costs are attributable to each sub‑sector (section 10(2)(b)) and follow stated attribution principles (section 10(7)). If levy collections in one year exceed or fall short of ASIC’s determined regulatory costs, ASIC must adjust the following year’s regulatory‑costs determination to reflect the excess or shortfall (section 10(6)).\n\n- Rule‑making and oversight: The Governor‑General makes regulations required by the Act (section 13). Regulations set the method or amounts for individual levy liabilities (section 9(1), (5)) and may allow ASIC to make an annual legislative instrument specifying year‑specific figures or counts (section 9(6)). Before regulations are made the Minister must be satisfied they are consistent with the Act’s objectives (section 9(4)). ASIC’s instruments are subject to parliamentary disallowance, but the Act modifies the usual disallowance timeframes and effects (section 11).\n\n- Interaction with other laws and special provisions: The Act binds the States and Territories but not the Commonwealth (section 3); it extends to external Territories and to acts outside Australia (sections 4–5); it expressly does not tax State property (section 6). The Act also limits retrospective effect of certain legislative instruments by excluding a usual provision of the Legislation Act 2003 (sections 9(9) and 10(8)).\n\nWhy this matters — stated purpose and practical implications (source‑stated objective vs mechanical consequences)\n\n- Source‑stated objective: The Act’s explicit objectives are that the total levy collected equals ASIC’s regulatory costs for the year, and that amounts charged to particular sectors or sub‑sectors equal ASIC’s regulatory costs attributable to those sectors or sub‑sectors (section 9(2)).\n\n- How that objective is implemented and what that means in practice: Parliament supplies appropriations to ASIC; ASIC converts (subject to statutory limits) those regulatory‑cost figures into a total levy to be borne by leviable entities (sections 10(2), 10(3), 9(1)). Regulations and ASIC’s annual instruments convert those totals into specific levy amounts for particular entities, sectors or sub‑sectors (sections 9(5)–(6), 10(2)). That process creates these concrete effects:\n - Who decides: the Governor‑General (regulations) and ASIC (annual legislative instruments), with a Ministerial check that regulations meet the Act’s objectives (sections 13, 9(4), 9(6)). Parliament retains a disallowance power over ASIC instruments, but the Act shortens and adjusts the usual disallowance mechanics (section 11).\n - Who pays: leviable entities as defined in the Act — a comprehensive list of regulated entity types and any classes prescribed by regulation (section 7 and section 9). Partnerships, unincorporated associations and multiple trustees are brought within scope by allocating obligations to partners, committee members or trustees (section 12).\n - Compliance and administrative burden: the Act contemplates returns to ASIC (see the requirement that ASIC can only make its annual instrument after the last day returns must be lodged under the Collection Act — section 9(8)). The regulations may set methods that rely on historic acts or circumstances and may specify different treatments by class, sector or sub‑sector (section 9(5)).\n - Budgetary and timing constraints: ASIC cannot recover more than Parliament appropriates (section 10(3)). Over‑ or under‑collection is carried forward to adjust the next year’s determination (section 10(6)).\n\nTrade‑offs, incentives and implementation risks (mechanical, not normative)\n\n- Concentration of decision power and discretion: the Act delegates detailed rate‑setting and attribution work to regulations and to ASIC’s legislative instruments (sections 9(5)–(6), 10(2)), so the precise incidence of levy liabilities depends on delegated instruments.\n\n- Potential distributional effects across sectors: the Act requires attribution of costs to sub‑sectors and allows different methods or amounts by class, sector or sub‑sector (sections 9(2)(b), 9(5)(b), 10(7)). That design mechanically permits differential levy incidence across regulated groups depending on the chosen method.\n\n- Compliance and administrative actions required of entities: entities designated as leviable must comply with any returns and payment obligations set out in the Collection Act and in the regulations and ASIC instruments (section 9(8); cross‑referenced obligations under the Collection Act). The Act provides how unincorporated entities and multiple trustees are to be treated to ensure enforceability (section 12).\n\n- Limits on recoverable costs and fiscal linkage: the cap that ASIC’s regulatory costs cannot exceed parliamentary appropriations (section 10(3)) ties levy totals to public budgeting decisions and requires ASIC to exclude specific categories of costs (section 10(4)).\n\nKey statutory references: sections 7–13 (definitions, levy imposition and amount rules, ASIC determinations, parliamentary oversight, treatment of non‑corporate entities, and regulations)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation appears consistent with its original intent as a cost recovery mechanism for ASIC. The defined categories of regulated entities (financial services, credit, markets, audit, liquidation) align with ASIC's core regulatory functions. The framework allows for expansion via regulation ('persons prescribed by the regulations'), but this appears to be an intentional flexibility mechanism rather than scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["18 defined terms in section 7, many of which incorporate definitions from other Acts (Corporations Act 2001, National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993)","Nested definitions: 'leviable entity' depends on 'regulated entity' which depends on 7 sub-categories (financial services entity, credit services entity, market infrastructure entity, etc.), each with their own multi-part definitions","Extensive cross-referencing to the companion ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Act 2017 (sections 8, 9, 11, 15)","Conditional logic in section 9: regulations must satisfy statutory objectives; ASIC determinations must satisfy consistency requirements; disallowance rules modify the Legislation Act 2003","Complex attribution rules in section 10(7) for allocating costs across sub-sectors, including principles for direct vs indirect costs and treatment of special account credits","Retrospectivity provisions in sections 9(9) and 10(8) that explicitly disapply normal legislative instrument rules","Multiple entity treatment rules in section 12 creating notional entities for partnerships, unincorporated associations, and trustee groups with shifting liability rules"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates a system where businesses and individuals regulated by ASIC (the Australian Securities and Investments Commission) help pay for ASIC's work through an annual levy.\n\n**Who pays:**\nThe levy applies to 'leviable entities' — essentially anyone ASIC regulates who isn't specifically exempted. This includes:\n- **Companies** registered under the Corporations Act\n- **Financial services businesses** (those with financial services licences, superannuation trustees, and some exempt entities)\n- **Credit providers and brokers** (licensed credit businesses and some exempt entities)\n- **Market operators** (stock exchanges, clearing houses, derivative trade repositories, benchmark administrators)\n- **Auditors** (registered company auditors and audit firms)\n- **Liquidators** (registered insolvency practitioners)\n- **Company-like entities** (certain bodies corporate and disclosing entities)\n\n**How it works:**\n- ASIC calculates its total regulatory costs each year (surveillance, education, policy advice, etc.)\n- The regulations then set out formulas to divide these costs among the regulated sectors\n- The goal is **cost recovery** — the total levies collected should match what ASIC spends regulating each sector\n- If ASIC collects too much or too little one year, it adjusts the next year's costs accordingly\n\n**Key features:**\n- **ASIC determines the total cost pool** through a legislative instrument each year\n- **The regulations set the allocation method** — different sectors pay different amounts based on how much regulatory attention they require\n- **Parliament can disallow** ASIC's cost determinations, but with a shorter 5-day disallowance period instead of the usual 15 days\n- **Partnerships and unincorporated associations** are treated as single entities for calculation purposes, but each partner or committee member is personally liable for payment\n\n**Why it matters:**\nBefore this Act, ASIC was funded entirely by taxpayer appropriations. This law shifts the burden to the regulated industries themselves, creating a 'user pays' system. This means businesses in heavily regulated sectors (like financial services) pay more than those in lighter-touch sectors, theoretically aligning ASIC's funding with its actual workload."},"summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act's original scope was to recover ASIC's supervisory costs from regulated industries. Over time, amendments have expanded the definition of 'market infrastructure entity' to include benchmark administrator licensees (a category added after the Act's 2017 commencement, likely in response to financial benchmark reform), and 'regulated entity' and other definitions contain placeholder provisions allowing regulations to add new classes of persons. This means the practical scope of who pays the levy can expand beyond those originally contemplated without primary legislation."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple interlocking legislative instruments — the Act itself sets the framework, but key details (amounts, sectors, exemptions) are delegated to regulations and ASIC's own determinations, requiring readers to consult several documents","Broad and layered definitions — 'regulated entity' encompasses eight different categories, each defined by reference to other Acts (Corporations Act 2001, National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993)","Cost calculation mechanism involves retrospective adjustments for prior-year over/under-collection, requiring understanding of multi-year interactions","Special constitutional provisions — section 6 requires understanding of section 114 of the Constitution and the distinction between Crown entities","Unusual parliamentary disallowance rules — the shortened 5 sitting-day window and modified disallowance effect differ from standard legislative instrument procedures","Complex treatment of non-standard legal persons — separate rules for partnerships, unincorporated associations, RSE licensee groups, and trust structures with multiple or notional trustees","Sector and sub-sector attribution of costs involves regulatory accounting principles that are not self-contained in the Act","Extraterritorial application adds jurisdictional complexity for internationally operating entities"],"plain_english_summary":"## What This Law Does\n\nThis Act creates a **levy (a compulsory charge)** that ASIC (the Australian Securities and Investments Commission — Australia's financial markets and corporate regulator) can collect from the businesses and individuals it regulates. The idea is simple: instead of taxpayers fully funding ASIC's operations, the industries that ASIC supervises pay for the cost of being regulated.\n\n## Who Has to Pay?\n\nIf you are a **\"leviable entity\"** (a regulated business or person who isn't specifically exempt), you must pay. This covers a very wide range of people and organisations, including:\n\n- **Registered companies** (businesses incorporated under the Corporations Act)\n- **Financial services licensees** (e.g., financial advisers, fund managers, stockbrokers)\n- **Credit licensees** (e.g., mortgage brokers, consumer lenders)\n- **Market operators** (e.g., stock exchanges, clearing houses)\n- **Auditors** (registered company auditors and audit firms)\n- **Liquidators** (registered insolvency practitioners)\n- **Superannuation fund trustees** (RSE licensees)\n- Other entities ASIC regulates, as the regulations specify\n\nSome entities can be **exempt** if regulations say so.\n\n## How Much Do You Pay?\n\nThe exact amount is worked out by regulations (rules made separately by the government). The key principles are:\n\n1. **Total levy collected = ASIC's total regulatory costs** for that year — so ASIC is fully cost-recovered, not profit-making.\n2. **Each sector pays for its own regulation** — for example, the credit industry pays for ASIC's credit-related work, not for its stock market work.\n3. If ASIC collected **too much** the previous year, your levy goes down. If it collected **too little**, it goes up.\n\n## What Counts as ASIC's \"Regulatory Costs\"?\n\nASIC determines its own regulatory costs each year, which can include:\n- Direct supervision and surveillance activities\n- Education, guidance, and industry engagement\n- Policy advice\n- Depreciation of equipment and assets\n\nASIC **cannot** include costs for regulating entities that don't pay the levy, or certain special account costs.\n\n## Parliamentary Oversight\n\nASIC's cost determinations are subject to a **fast-tracked disallowance process** — Parliament has only 5 sitting days (instead of the usual 15) to object to or block ASIC's instruments. If Parliament doesn't act, the instrument takes effect automatically.\n\n## Important Limits\n\n- The levy **cannot exceed** the total amount Parliament has appropriated (officially budgeted) for ASIC.\n- State-owned property is **not taxed** under this Act (a constitutional requirement).\n- The Act applies **nationwide**, including external territories (like Christmas Island), and even to conduct occurring **outside Australia**.\n\n## Practical Impact\n\nIf your business is regulated by ASIC — and millions of Australians work for or own such businesses — this Act is why you see ASIC levy line items in your company's annual costs. The levy is essentially a **user-pays model** for financial regulation."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"circular_definition","section":"8","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 8 states that 'levy payable in accordance with section 8 of the ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Act 2017 is imposed.' This is constitutionally motivated (separation of imposition and collection) but creates a logical circularity: this Act imposes whatever the Collection Act says is payable, while the Collection Act creates payment obligations for whatever this Act imposes. Neither Act independently defines the levy obligation without the other, creating a mutually dependent loop rather than a clear chain of legal obligation.","confidence":0.72,"description":"Section 8 purports to impose a levy by reference to a payment obligation created in a separate Act (the Collection Act), creating a circular dependency where the imposition provision is substantively hollow without the Collection Act, yet the Collection Act's payment obligation presupposes the imposition here."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"9(2) and 9(3)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 9(2) sets as an objective that total levy collected equals regulatory costs. Section 9(3) says to disregard the effect of waivers under Collection Act s15 for this purpose. This means the Minister under s9(4) must be satisfied regulations are consistent with an objective measured by ignoring waivers, but actual levy collected will be reduced by waivers in practice. The objective is thus systemically unachievable in real-world terms while being deemed achieved for regulatory purposes — a built-in fiction that undermines the stated policy goal.","confidence":0.78,"description":"The stated objectives in s9(2) are declared not to be achievable in practice because s9(3) requires the waiver provision (Collection Act s15) to be disregarded when assessing whether the objectives are met, yet levy waivers will foreseeably cause actual collections to fall short of regulatory costs."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"10(6)(b)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The entire Act is premised on full cost recovery for ASIC. Section 10(6)(b) requires ASIC to increase the following year's regulatory costs by any shortfall, except shortfalls caused by waivers under Collection Act s15. This creates a permanent funding gap: waiver-induced shortfalls are never recovered. This directly contradicts the policy objective in s9(2)(a) that total levy equals regulatory costs, making the Act structurally unable to achieve its own stated purpose whenever waivers are granted.","confidence":0.82,"description":"The shortfall adjustment mechanism in s10(6)(b) excludes shortfalls caused by waivers from being carried forward, meaning ASIC permanently absorbs those shortfalls with no recovery mechanism, contradicting the overall cost-recovery policy objective."},{"type":"other","section":"7 (definition of 'credit services entity', paragraph (c))","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Including contravenors within the definition of regulated entities may be intentional (to prevent evasion of the levy by operating without a licence), but it creates the absurdity that an entity whose very characteristic is non-compliance with licensing law is formally designated a regulated entity for cost-recovery purposes. ASIC would need to identify, assess and bill persons who are deliberately operating outside the regulatory framework, which is practically very difficult and logically anomalous — you are a 'regulated entity' precisely because you refuse to be regulated.","confidence":0.65,"description":"A person who contravenes s29 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (i.e., operates without a licence) is defined as a 'credit services entity' and thus a regulated entity subject to levy, creating the perverse outcome that unlicensed operators are financially regulated as if they were legitimate participants."},{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"9(5)(d)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 9(5)(d) expressly permits regulations to look back to pre-commencement facts. Combined with s9(9) which disapplies the Legislation Act 2003 s12(2) protection against retrospective legislative instruments, entities could face levy calculations based on their size, transactions or activities in periods when this Act did not exist and when they could not have anticipated or planned for such obligations. While the provision is deliberate, it is logically problematic that a cost-recovery levy for ASIC's supervision costs could be calculated by reference to periods when ASIC had no authority under this Act to recover those costs.","confidence":0.6,"description":"Regulations may specify methods that refer to acts or circumstances existing before the commencement of the Act, enabling retrospective levy calculation, which may impose financial burdens on entities based on historical conduct that predates the legislative regime entirely."},{"type":"other","section":"11(2)(b)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The standard parliamentary disallowance regime under the Legislation Act 2003 operates so that instruments subject to a disallowance notice that is not resolved are taken to be disallowed. Section 11(2)(b) reverses this: if a motion lapses without resolution, the instrument is taken NOT to be disallowed. This means procedural inaction protects ASIC's cost-recovery instruments rather than triggering scrutiny. Given that these instruments determine how much industry must pay, reversing the default disallowance outcome significantly weakens parliamentary oversight in a way that is structurally incongruous with the financial importance of the instruments.","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 11(2)(b) modifies the Legislation Act 2003 s42(2) to reverse the default disallowance outcome — instruments are taken NOT to have been disallowed rather than disallowed — which inverts the normal parliamentary safeguard for delegated legislation in a financially significant context."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"10(3) and 10(5)(c)","severity":"low","reasoning":"Section 10(3) caps regulatory costs at the sum of parliamentary appropriations. Section 10(5)(c) permits inclusion of amounts credited to special accounts (even where debits lag behind credits). In a given year, the credited amounts are appropriation-sourced but may relate to future expenditure. This creates ambiguity about whether 'amounts appropriated' in s10(3) includes amounts credited to special accounts for future use, potentially allowing the regulatory cost determination to approach or reach the cap based on notional future spending rather than actual costs incurred.","confidence":0.55,"description":"The regulatory costs cap in s10(3) (must not exceed parliamentary appropriations) conflicts with s10(5)(c) which allows inclusion of amounts credited to special accounts even if debits from those accounts in the same year fall short of those credits, potentially enabling ASIC to count funding that has not yet been spent."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"high","section_a":"9(2)(a)","section_b":"10(6)(b)","confidence":0.85,"description":"Section 9(2)(a) states the objective that total levy collected equals regulatory costs, but s10(6)(b) explicitly prevents recovery of shortfalls caused by waivers, making the objective structurally unachievable whenever waivers are granted."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"3","section_b":"6","confidence":0.68,"description":"Section 3 binds the Crown in right of each State, potentially subjecting State entities to levy obligations. Section 6 then carves out State property from taxation. The interaction is uncertain: a State-owned financial services entity would be a regulated entity under s7, bound by the Act under s3, yet potentially exempt under s6 — but the scope of 'property belonging to a State' under s114 of the Constitution is not defined beyond that constitutional reference, creating an unresolved boundary."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"9(4)","section_b":"9(9)","confidence":0.7,"description":"Section 9(4) requires the Minister to be satisfied that regulations are consistent with the objectives in s9(2) before they are made. Section 9(9) disapplies Legislation Act 2003 s12(2), allowing retrospective operation. However, the objectives in s9(2) are assessed prospectively (relating to a financial year's levy equalling regulatory costs). Retrospective regulations could alter levy amounts for past years after entities have already been assessed, making it impossible for the Minister to have been satisfied of consistency with objectives that can only be evaluated after the fact."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"9(7)","section_b":"9(8)","confidence":0.58,"description":"Section 9(7) requires ASIC to be satisfied the legislative instrument is consistent with the objectives in s9(2) before making it. Section 9(8) requires the instrument to be made only after the last day for lodging returns under Collection Act s11. This means ASIC must assess consistency with cost-recovery objectives before all return data is necessarily processed and verified, potentially requiring ASIC to be 'satisfied' on the basis of incomplete information about actual levy amounts payable."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"11(3)","section_b":"11(5)","confidence":0.72,"description":"Sections 11(3) and 11(5) create an asymmetric temporal contradiction. If an instrument is disallowed in full under s11(5), it does not take effect at all. But s11(3) provides the instrument takes effect the day after the last possible disallowance day if no resolution passes. There is no provision addressing what happens to levy already assessed or collected in reliance on the instrument during the disallowance window — the Act is silent on the legal status of interim obligations created before the instrument formally takes effect or is disallowed."}]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/asic-supervisory-cost-recovery-levy-act-2017","history":"/api/acts/asic-supervisory-cost-recovery-levy-act-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/asic-supervisory-cost-recovery-levy-act-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/asic-supervisory-cost-recovery-levy-act-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/asic-supervisory-cost-recovery-levy-act-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/asic-supervisory-cost-recovery-levy-act-2017/documents"}}