{"id":"F2016L00525","name":"Cocos (Keeling) Islands Utilities and Services Ordinance 2016","slug":"cocos-keeling-islands-utilities-and-services-ordinance-2016","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":438674,"registerId":"F2016L00525-fast-fetch-1775955003560","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Cocos (Keeling) Islands Utilities and Services Ordinance 2016","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nCocos (Keeling) Islands Utilities and Services Ordinance 2016\n\n \n\nOrdinance No. 1, 2016\n\nI, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following Ordinance.\n\nDated 14 April 2016\n\nPeter Cosgrove\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nPaul Fletcher\n\nMinister for Major Projects, Territories and Local Government\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\n6 Administrator may arrange supply\n\n7 Fees for supply\n\n8 Fees must be notified in the Gazette\n\n9 Unpaid fee is a debt due to the Commonwealth\n\n10 Fee must not amount to taxation\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nUtilities and Services Ordinance 1996\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This is the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Utilities and Services Ordinance 2016.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Ordinance 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 \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this Ordinance The day after this Ordinance is registered. 16 April 2016\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Ordinance as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Ordinance.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Ordinance. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Ordinance.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This Ordinance is made under the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this Ordinance is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Ordinance has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\n  In this Ordinance:\n\nfee means a fee charged under section 7.\n\nutility or service includes, but is not limited to, the following:\n\n (a) water;\n\n (b) electricity;\n\n (c) gas;\n\n (d) drainage and sewerage;\n\n (e) refuse removal;\n\n (f) public transport;\n\n (g) community health care;\n\n (h) education;\n\n (i) community housing;\n\n (j) marine traffic facilities;\n\n (k) marine harbour facilities;\n\n (l) airport facilities.\n\n6  Administrator may arrange supply\n\n  The Administrator may arrange for the supply of a utility or service.\n\n7  Fees for supply\n\n (1) The Administrator may charge a fee for the supply of a utility or service.\n\n (2) The fee must be:\n\n (a) the fee determined by the Administrator by legislative instrument; or\n\n (b) if the Administrator has not determined a fee for the supply under paragraph (a)—the fee payable for the supply under an applied law.\n\n (3) A determination under paragraph (2)(a) must set out the date from which the fee applies, and may set out either or both of the following:\n\n (a) how the fee is to be paid;\n\n (b) the time by which the fee is to be paid.\n\n8  Fees must be notified in the Gazette\n\n (1) The Administrator must not charge a fee unless the fee has been notified in the Gazette.\n\nNote: The Gazette is the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: see section 2B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.\n\n (2) The notice must specify:\n\n (a) the amount of the fee; or\n\n (b) the method for calculating the fee (including any amounts on which the calculation is based).\n\n9  Unpaid fee is a debt due to the Commonwealth\n\n  An unpaid fee is a debt due to the Commonwealth.\n\n10  Fee must not amount to taxation\n\n  A fee must not be such as to amount to taxation.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nUtilities and Services Ordinance 1996\n\n1  The whole of the Ordinance\n\nRepeal the Ordinance.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Ordinance repeals the earlier Utilities and Services Ordinance 1996 (Schedule 1) and re-establishes the Administrator's power to arrange supplies and charge fees for a broadly defined set of utilities and services (ss6–7). It centralises fee-setting authority in the Administrator (by legislative instrument) while permitting a fallback to applied laws, and adds mandatory Gazette notification and an express provision that unpaid fees are Commonwealth debts (ss7–9)."},"complexity_factors":["Short and focused instrument with limited provisions (only 10 sections plus a repeal schedule).","Broad, non-exhaustive definition of 'utility or service' creates scope breadth (s5).","Administrator has discretion to arrange supply and determine fees by legislative instrument (ss6–7).","Fallback to fees under an applied law increases interaction with external laws (s7(2)(b)).","Mandatory publication requirement in the Commonwealth Gazette for fee validity (s8) imposes a procedural step.","Unpaid fees expressly converted to Commonwealth debt (s9) affects enforcement options.","Prohibition on fees amounting to taxation limits design but requires legal judgment (s10).","Repeal of previous Ordinance replaces prior legal framework (Schedule 1)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Ordinance lets the Administrator of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands arrange and charge fees for local utilities and services (for example, water, electricity, transport, health, housing and airport/harbour facilities). Fees are set by the Administrator (or fall back to an applied law), must be published in the Commonwealth Gazette, cannot amount to taxation, and unpaid fees become a debt to the Commonwealth. Users on the Islands must pay published fees; the Administrator decides fee levels and payment terms."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow scope. It is a straightforward re-enactment and modernisation of the 1996 Utilities and Services Ordinance, covering the same essential purpose: enabling the Administrator to provide utilities and services and charge fees for them. The list of services in the definition section is inclusive rather than exhaustive, but this does not represent scope creep beyond the original intent of governing essential infrastructure and services on the territory."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute—only 10 operative sections plus a repeal schedule","Minimal defined terms—only two definitions in section 5 ('fee' and 'utility or service')","Simple, linear structure with no cross-references to other Acts (except a single note referencing the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 regarding the Gazette)","No conditional logic, exceptions, or nested provisions—straightforward delegation of power to the Administrator","No complex machinery provisions or enforcement mechanisms beyond basic debt recovery","Single repeal item replacing one previous Ordinance"],"plain_english_summary":"This law lets the Administrator arrange and charge for essential services on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands—water, power, waste, transport, health, education and related infrastructure—requiring published fees and treating unpaid charges as debts to the Commonwealth. It protects against fees being used as hidden taxes, affects island residents, businesses and administrators, and replaces the 1996 law."},"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"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/cocos-keeling-islands-utilities-and-services-ordinance-2016","history":"/api/acts/cocos-keeling-islands-utilities-and-services-ordinance-2016/history","analysis":"/api/acts/cocos-keeling-islands-utilities-and-services-ordinance-2016/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/cocos-keeling-islands-utilities-and-services-ordinance-2016/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/cocos-keeling-islands-utilities-and-services-ordinance-2016/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/cocos-keeling-islands-utilities-and-services-ordinance-2016/documents"}}