{"id":"C1964A00044","name":"Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges (Collection) Act 1964","slug":"dried-vine-fruits-contributory-charges-collection-act-1964","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"44 of 1964","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":5058,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1964A00044-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges (Collection) Act 1964","content":"DRIED VINE FRUITS CONTRIBUTORY CHARGES (COLLECTION).\n\nNo. 44 of 1964.\n\nAn Act relating to the Payment and Collection of the Charges imposed by the Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964.\n\n\\[Assented to 28th May, 1964.\\]\n\nBE it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title.\n\n1. This Act may be cited as the Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges (Collection) Act 1964.\n\n  \n\nCommencement.\n\n2\\. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\nDefinition.\n\n3. In this Act, “the Secretary” means the Secretary to the Department of Primary Industry.\n\nProvisional charge.\n\n4.—(1.) This section applies only so long as provisional charge is imposed by section nine of the Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964.\n\n(2.) The purpose of this section is to secure the collection of charge that may become payable, and the powers of the Minister under this section shall be exercised only to such extent and in such manner as appear to him to be necessary for that purpose.\n\n(3.) At any time after the commencement of a season and before a notice in relation to currants, sultanas or raisins of that season has been published in the Gazette under section seven or eight of the Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964, the Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette—\n\n(a) declare that provisional charge is payable in respect of currants, sultanas or raisins, as the case may be, of that season received for packing; and\n\n(b) declare that the rate per ton of the provisional charge is a specified amount (not being more than Ten pounds),\n\nand thereupon provisional charge is payable in accordance with the notice by any packer or grower who will be liable to pay the charge, if any, that becomes payable in respect of any fruit to which the notice is applicable (whether received into the packing house before or after the publication of the notice).\n\n(4.) The Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, vary or revoke a notice under the last preceding sub-section.\n\n(5.) Subject to the next succeeding sub-section, provisional charge is due and payable at the expiration of thirty days after—\n\n(a) the date on which the fruit in respect of which it is payable was received into a packing house; or\n\n(b) the date of publication of the relevant notice under sub-section (3.) of this section,\n\nwhichever is the later.\n\n(6.) The Secretary may extend the time for payment of provisional charge in respect of any fruit in order that the proceeds of the sale of the fruit may be available for payment of the provisional charge or for any other reason that appears to him to be sufficient.\n\n  \n\n(7.) Where a person has made arrangements that, in the opinion of the Minister or of a person authorized by the Minister to grant exemptions under this section, are adequate to ensure that any charge that may become payable by that person in respect of a season will be duly paid, the Minister or authorized person may, by writing under his hand, exempt that person from liability to pay provisional charge in respect of fruit of that season.\n\n(8.) The Minister may, by writing under his hand, cancel an exemption under the last preceding sub-section.\n\nAdjustment at end of season.\n\n5.—(1.) After a notice has been published in relation to currants, sultanas or raisins of a season under section seven or eight of the Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964—\n\n(a) if charge is not payable on currants, sultanas or raisins, as the case may be, of that season, any provisional charge paid in respect of currants, sultanas or raisins of that season shall be refunded;\n\n(b) if charge is payable on currants, sultanas or raisins, as the case may be, of that season, and a person liable to pay any such charge has paid provisional charge in respect of currants, sultanas or raisins, as the case may be, of that season—\n\n(i) if that provisional charge exceeds the charge so payable by that person—the charge shall be deemed to have been paid and the excess shall be refunded; or\n\n(ii) in any other case—the charge so payable shall be deemed to have been paid to the extent of the amount of the provisional charge; and\n\n(c) unpaid provisional charge in respect of currants, sultanas or raisins, as the case may be, of that season ceases to be payable, but without prejudice to any liability accrued under section nine of this Act at the date of publication of that notice.\n\n(2.) Where an amount paid by a packer as provisional charge in respect of any fruit is refunded to him under this section, the packer is liable to pay the amount so refunded to the grower of the fruit, but may set off against that liability any outstanding liability of the grower to him in respect of the payment of provisional charge.\n\nTime for payment.\n\n6. The charge on any fruit is due and payable upon the expiration of seven days after the date of publication of the notice under section eight of the Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964 determining the rate of the charge.\n\n  \n\nCharge a debt to the Commonwealth.\n\n7.—(1.) An amount of charge or provisional charge due and payable, and any additional amount payable under section nine of this Act, is a debt due to the Commonwealth by the person liable to pay the amount and is recoverable by the Commonwealth in a court of competent jurisdiction.\n\n(2.) In proceedings for the recovery of an amount referred to in the last preceding sub-section, an averment or statement in the complaint, claim or declaration of the plaintiff is evidence of the matter so averred or stated.\n\nPacker may recover charge from grower.\n\n8\\. Where the packer of any fruit received for packing has paid charge or provisional charge payable on that fruit, he is entitled to recover the amount of that charge or provisional charge from the grower of the fruit as a debt due to the packer from the grower.\n\nPenal charge.\n\n9.—(1.) If any charge or provisional charge is not paid at or before the time at which it becomes due and payable, the person liable to pay the charge or provisional charge is liable to pay to the Commonwealth an additional amount at the rate of ten per centum per annum upon the amount unpaid, to be computed from the time the amount unpaid became due and payable.\n\n(2.) The Minister may, in any particular case, for reasons that he thinks sufficient, remit the additional amount or any part of that amount.\n\nRefund of charge overpaid.\n\n10.—(1.) Subject to this section, where the Minister finds that any charge or provisional charge has been overpaid, he shall refund the amount found to be overpaid.\n\n(2.) A refund of an amount shall not be made to the packer of any fruit received for packing unless the Minister is satisfied that the packer has not recouped himself to the extent of that amount from the grower of the fruit or, if he has so recouped himself, that he has since paid the amount to the grower.\n\nCommonwealth may collect charge from person owing money to person liable to charge.\n\n11.—(1.) The Secretary may, by notice in writing (a copy of which shall be forwarded to the person liable to the charge at his address last known to the Secretary), require—\n\n(a) a person by whom any money is due or accruing or may become due to a person liable to pay any charge;\n\n(b) a person who holds or may subsequently hold money for or on account of a person liable to pay any charge;\n\n(c) a person who holds or may subsequently hold money for or on account of some other person for payment to a person liable to pay any charge; or\n\n  \n\n(d) a person having authority from some other person to pay money to a person liable to pay any charge,\n\nto pay to the Commonwealth, either forthwith upon the money becoming due or being held, or at or within a time specified in the notice (not being a time before the money becomes due or is held)—\n\n(e) so much of the money as is sufficient to pay the amount due in respect of charge by the person liable to pay the charge, or the whole of the money when it is equal to or less than that amount; or\n\n(f) such amount as is specified in the notice out of each of any payments that the person so notified becomes liable from time to time to make to the person liable to pay the charge, until the amount due by that last-mentioned person in respect of charge is satisfied,\n\nand may at any time, by further notice in writing, amend or revoke the first-mentioned notice, or extend the time for making any payment in pursuance of that notice.\n\n(2.) A person shall not fail or neglect to comply with a notice under this section.\n\nPenalty: Fifty pounds.\n\n(3.) A person making a payment in pursuance of this section shall be deemed to have been acting under the authority of the person liable to pay the charge and of all other persons concerned and is hereby indemnified in respect of the payment.\n\n(4.) If the Commonwealth receives a payment in respect of the amount due by the person liable to pay the charge before payment is made by the person so notified, the Secretary shall forthwith give notice of the payment to that person.\n\n(5.) In this section—\n\n“charge” includes provisional charge, any additional amount payable under this Act and any judgment debt or costs in respect of an amount payable under this Act;\n\n“person” includes a company, a partnership, a State and a public authority constituted by or under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory of the Commonwealth.\n\nPower to call for returns.\n\n12\\. For the purposes of this Act, the Minister, or a person authorized by the Minister to act under this section, may, by notice in writing, require a person to furnish to him, within the time specified in the notice, such return or information as is specified in the notice, including a return or information verified by statutory declaration.\n\n  \n\nOffences in relation to returns, &c.\n\n13.—(1.) A person shall not fail or neglect duly to furnish a return or information that he is required under this Act or the regulations to furnish.\n\nPenalty: One hundred pounds.\n\n(2.) A person shall not present to an officer or other person doing duty in relation to this Act or the regulations an account, book or document, or make or furnish to such an officer or person a statement or return, that is false or misleading in a material particular.\n\nPenalty: Five hundred pounds or imprisonment for twelve months.\n\nPacker to keep books and accounts.\n\n14. A packer shall—\n\n(a) keep proper books and accounts showing full and correct particulars of his operations, receipts and expenditure in relation to currants, sultanas and raisins respectively received for packing, and packed currants, packed sultanas and packed raisins respectively; and\n\n(b) produce all or any of those books and accounts, upon demand, to a person authorized by the Minister under the next succeeding section.\n\nPenalty: One hundred pounds.\n\nAccess to books, &c.\n\n15. A person authorized by the Minister to act under this section shall at all times have full and free access to all buildings, places, books, accounts and documents for any of the purposes of this Act and for any such purpose may take extracts from or make copies of any such books, accounts or documents.\n\nObstructing officers.\n\n16. A person shall not obstruct or hinder a person acting in the discharge of his duty under this Act or the regulations.\n\nPenalty: One hundred pounds or imprisonment for six months.\n\nRegulations.\n\n17. The Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act and, in particular—\n\n(a) requiring persons to furnish returns or information, including returns or information verified by statutory declaration; or\n\n(b) prescribing penalties, not exceeding a fine of One hundred pounds, for offences against the regulations.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Section 4(3)","severity":"high","reasoning":"A packer who received fruit into the packing house prior to the Gazette notice had no way of knowing a provisional charge would apply to that fruit. Imposing retrospective liability on conduct that occurred before the triggering notice was published makes it impossible for a person to prospectively comply with the charge obligation at the time of their actions. This is a classic retroactive impossibility: compliance at the moment of the relevant act (receiving fruit) was not achievable because the obligation did not yet exist.","confidence":0.85,"description":"Retroactive liability imposed before notice exists: provisional charge is payable by packers or growers in respect of fruit 'received into the packing house before or after the publication of the notice.' This means a person can become liable for a charge on fruit they processed before the charge notice was ever published — i.e., before they had any legal or practical means of knowing the charge existed."},{"type":"circular_definition","section":"Section 4(7)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The exemption mechanism in s.4(7) undermines the very purpose of provisional charge stated in s.4(2). The section creates a circularity: provisional charge secures payment of the final charge; the exemption from provisional charge is granted when arrangements to pay the final charge are 'adequate.' But at the time the exemption is granted (before the final notice under ss.7 or 8 of the Charges Act), neither the existence nor the rate of the final charge is known, making it logically impossible to assess the adequacy of arrangements to pay it.","confidence":0.75,"description":"Circular exemption standard: a person can be exempted from provisional charge if they have made 'arrangements adequate to ensure that any charge that may become payable will be duly paid.' But provisional charge itself IS the mechanism designed to ensure that the final charge is paid (per s.4(2)). Exempting someone from provisional charge on the basis that they will pay the final charge presupposes that the final charge amount is known — but the entire reason provisional charge exists is that the final charge amount is not yet known."},{"type":"other","section":"Section 5(2)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4 makes the packer (and grower) jointly liable for provisional charge, but a packer may well have paid provisional charge entirely from their own funds without recouping it from the grower. Under s.5(2), if that charge is refunded, the packer must hand it over to the grower — despite the grower never having contributed to it. Section 10(2) applies an opposite logic for overpayment refunds (the packer only gets the refund if they haven't recouped from the grower), creating an asymmetry. The s.5(2) obligation could result in a packer being worse off than had they never paid at all.","confidence":0.72,"description":"Packer ordered to refund to grower an amount the packer may never have received from the grower: where a packer pays provisional charge and it is refunded to the packer, s.5(2) makes the packer liable to pay that refunded amount to the grower. However, provisional charge may have been paid by the packer from the packer's own funds (not the grower's), meaning the packer is compelled to pass on a windfall refund to a grower who never bore that cost."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Section 7(2)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"While this style of evidential provision was not uncommon in mid-20th century Commonwealth revenue legislation, it remains logically problematic: evidence of a fact is meant to come from a source independent of the assertion of that fact. Allowing the plaintiff's own pleading to constitute evidence of the truth of its contents is, in formal logic, circular — the assertion proves the assertion. It is not strictly impossible to comply with, but it represents a legally absurd evidentiary standard that could be abused.","confidence":0.78,"description":"The plaintiff's own averment is deemed evidence of itself: in recovery proceedings, 'an averment or statement in the complaint, claim or declaration of the plaintiff is evidence of the matter so averred or stated.' This effectively allows a party to prove their own claim by merely asserting it, which is logically self-validating and represents a significant departure from ordinary evidentiary principles."},{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"Section 11(1)(d) and Section 11(2)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 11(1)(d) captures agents who have authority from another person to make payments to the charge-liable person. Compelling such an agent to redirect funds to the Commonwealth rather than to the person they are authorised to pay may put them in breach of their agency obligations or fiduciary duties at private law. While s.11(3) purports to indemnify them, it does not resolve the impossibility of simultaneously complying with both their agency authority and the statutory notice. The agent faces a legal conflict with no clean resolution despite the indemnity.","confidence":0.68,"description":"A person with 'authority to pay money' to a liable person is compelled to instead pay that money to the Commonwealth, on pain of a £50 penalty — but that person acts as an agent and may have no legal ability to redirect the payment without breaching their own legal duties to the principal."},{"type":"other","section":"Section 15","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The phrase 'at all times' is unqualified. There is no requirement for prior notice, no restriction to business hours, no warrant requirement, and no limitation to premises associated with packing activities. While hyperbolic drafting of this kind was common in the era, taken literally it creates an absurdly broad power that would be impossible to reconcile with common law property rights and, if enacted today, would likely be unconstitutional under implied freedom principles.","confidence":0.7,"description":"Authorised persons are granted access to 'all buildings, places, books, accounts and documents' 'at all times' — including presumably private residences and at 3am — with no temporal, geographical or procedural constraint whatsoever."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"low","section_a":"Section 4(5)","section_b":"Section 4(3)","confidence":0.65,"description":"Section 4(3) imposes provisional charge on fruit received before the notice is published. Section 4(5) says provisional charge is due 30 days after whichever is later: the date of receipt or the date of the notice. For pre-notice fruit, the 30 days runs from the notice date — but the payer's liability is backdated to the receipt date. This creates a tension: the liability accrues retroactively to receipt, yet the payment clock only starts from notice. The person was liable before they knew it, but is only given 30 days from when they found out — which partially mitigates the absurdity in s.4(3) but does not eliminate the contradiction in when liability attaches versus when it is enforceable."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 5(2)","section_b":"Section 10(2)","confidence":0.8,"description":"These two sections apply contradictory logic to refunds flowing through a packer to a grower. Section 10(2) protects the packer receiving an overpayment refund: the Minister must be satisfied the packer has not already recouped the overpaid amount from the grower (or has repaid it) before making the refund to the packer. Section 5(2) imposes an unconditional obligation on the packer to pay a provisional charge refund to the grower regardless of whether the packer originally recouped that amount from the grower. The two sections impose opposite default assumptions about who bears the economic burden of the charge — s.10(2) assumes the packer may have passed the cost to the grower; s.5(2) assumes the packer must always pass the refund to the grower even if the grower never bore the original cost."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 6","section_b":"Section 5(1)(b)(ii)","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 6 states the final charge is due and payable seven days after publication of the rate notice under s.8 of the Charges Act. Section 5(1)(b)(ii) deems the final charge to have been paid 'to the extent of the amount of the provisional charge' already paid. If the provisional charge paid equals or exceeds the final charge, s.5(1)(b)(i) deems the entire final charge paid — meaning the payment timing in s.6 is superseded by a legal fiction that payment has already occurred before s.6's due date. This creates ambiguity about whether s.6's seven-day payment deadline applies at all to persons who have paid provisional charge, and if not, whether the penal interest in s.9 can accrue in the interim."},{"severity":"low","section_a":"Section 4(2)","section_b":"Section 4(7)","confidence":0.6,"description":"Section 4(2) states the purpose of the provisional charge regime is to 'secure the collection of charge that may become payable' and that the Minister's powers shall be exercised only to the extent necessary for that purpose. Section 4(7) allows the Minister (or delegate) to exempt persons from provisional charge where adequate arrangements exist to ensure payment — but there is no requirement that the exercise of that exemption power be itself confined to what is 'necessary' for the collection purpose. The purpose limitation in s.4(2) nominally governs all of the Minister's powers under the section, yet s.4(7) creates a broad discretionary exemption power with a different (and subjective) standard, creating tension about whether the s.4(2) necessity constraint actually limits the exemption power."}]},"summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act remains tightly focused on its original and sole purpose: the collection and enforcement of charges imposed by the Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964. Every provision — from provisional charges and end-of-season adjustments to garnishment powers, record-keeping obligations, and penalties — directly serves that collection function. There is no evidence of scope creep or expansion beyond the original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Dual-layered structure requiring constant cross-reference to the companion Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964 — this Act cannot be understood in isolation","Provisional charge mechanism with conditional logic: charges arise, are adjusted, and can be refunded or credited depending on whether and at what rate a final charge is later imposed","Nested conditional adjustment provisions in section 5 (three sub-scenarios within the end-of-season reconciliation)","Garnishment (third-party collection) power in section 11 is complex, covering four categories of third parties, two modes of payment direction, and an expanded definition of 'charge' and 'person' specific to that section only","Exemption and cancellation regime for provisional charge (sections 4(7) and 4(8)) adds a discretionary administrative layer","Penalty interest mechanism in section 9 interacts with the payment timing provisions in sections 4, 5, and 6","Ministerial discretion appears across multiple sections (notices, exemptions, remissions, refunds) with varying procedural requirements (some by Gazette notice, some in writing)","Only one defined term in the interpretation section (section 3), but several terms are effectively defined within individual sections (e.g. expanded 'charge' and 'person' in section 11), creating inconsistency","Penalties expressed in pre-decimal currency (pounds), reflecting the age of the legislation and adding interpretive friction for modern readers"],"plain_english_summary":"## What This Law Does\n\nThis Act is the **collection mechanism** for charges (essentially levies) imposed on dried vine fruits — specifically **currants, sultanas, and raisins** — under its companion law, the *Dried Vine Fruits Contributory Charges Act 1964*. Think of that companion law as setting the rules for *what* is owed; this Act sets the rules for *how* it gets collected and enforced.\n\n---\n\n### Who It Affects\n\n- **Packers** — businesses that receive grapes and pack them into dried vine fruit products. They are the primary people responsible for paying the charge.\n- **Growers** — farmers who grow the grapes. They may ultimately bear the cost of the charge, because packers can recover (claim back) what they've paid from growers.\n- **Anyone holding money on behalf of** a packer or grower who owes charges — they can be legally directed to hand that money to the Commonwealth instead.\n\n---\n\n### Key Things the Law Does\n\n- **Provisional charges**: Before the final levy rate for a season is officially announced, the Minister (a senior government official) can impose a *provisional* (temporary, estimated) charge — capped at £10 per ton — to ensure money is being collected in the meantime. This is like a deposit against the final bill.\n\n- **End-of-season adjustment**: Once the real charge rate is confirmed, accounts are squared up:\n  - If no charge ends up being owed → provisional charge is refunded.\n  - If the provisional charge was *too high* → the overpayment is refunded.\n  - If it was *too low* → the balance remains payable.\n\n- **Payment deadlines**: The final charge must be paid within **7 days** of the official rate notice being published. Provisional charges must be paid within **30 days** of the fruit being received for packing (or the notice being published, whichever is later).\n\n- **Late payment penalty**: If a charge isn't paid on time, a **10% per annum penalty** (extra amount calculated as a percentage over time, like interest) applies automatically. The Minister can waive this in appropriate cases.\n\n- **Debt recovery**: Unpaid charges are treated as a **debt owed to the Commonwealth** (the Australian government) and can be recovered in court. Notably, the government's own statement of the amount owed counts as evidence in court — the burden effectively shifts to the person being sued to dispute it.\n\n- **Garnishment powers** (the ability to redirect money): The Secretary can order a *third party* — say, a bank or a business that owes money to a packer — to pay that money directly to the Commonwealth instead. This is a powerful debt-collection tool.\n\n- **Packers can recover from growers**: If a packer pays the charge, they are legally entitled to claim that amount back from the grower as a debt.\n\n- **Compliance and record-keeping**: Packers must keep detailed books and accounts. Government-authorised officers have the right to access buildings, books, and documents at any time. Providing false information or obstructing officers is a criminal offence.\n\n- **Refund protection**: If a charge has been overpaid, it must be refunded — but a packer only gets a refund if they haven't already recouped the money from the grower (or have paid it back to the grower).\n\n---\n\n### Why It Matters\n\nThis law is a practical enforcement framework for a levy system designed to fund the dried vine fruits industry (likely for things like marketing, research, or industry support). Without a collection mechanism like this, the levy itself would be unenforceable. It gives the government real teeth — including third-party garnishment, criminal penalties, and broad inspection powers — to make sure contributions are actually paid."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/dried-vine-fruits-contributory-charges-collection-act-1964","history":"/api/acts/dried-vine-fruits-contributory-charges-collection-act-1964/history","analysis":"/api/acts/dried-vine-fruits-contributory-charges-collection-act-1964/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/dried-vine-fruits-contributory-charges-collection-act-1964/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/dried-vine-fruits-contributory-charges-collection-act-1964/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/dried-vine-fruits-contributory-charges-collection-act-1964/documents"}}