{"id":"F2017L01655","name":"Industry Research and Development (Gas Acceleration Program) Instrument 2017","slug":"industry-research-and-development-gas-acceleration-program-instrument-2017","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439425,"registerId":"F2017L01655-fast-fetch-1775955458788","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Industry Research and Development (Gas Acceleration Program) Instrument 2017","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![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nIndustry Research and Development (Gas Acceleration Program) Instrument 2017\n\nI, Matt Canavan, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, make the following instrument.\n\nDated 15 December 2017\n\nMatt Canavan\n\nMinister for Resources and Northern Australia\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Definitions\n\n5 Prescribed program\n\n6 Specified legislative power\n\n7 Eligibility criteria relating to program\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Industry Research and Development (Gas Acceleration Program) Instrument 2017.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument 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 instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 20 December 2017\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 33 of the Industry Research and Development Act 1986.\n\n4  Definitions\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Industry Research and Development Act 1986.\n\ndomestic gas consumer means a natural gas consumer, other than a liquefied natural gas project, located in Australia.\n\ndomestic gas market means a collection of natural gas buyers and sellers in Australia who are interconnected by infrastructure that allows them to trade natural gas.\n\ntarget consumer means a domestic gas consumer who:\n\n (a) is affected by what is forecast to be a tight supply‑demand balance; and\n\n (b) would experience a material benefit from additional natural gas becoming available.\n\ntarget market means a domestic gas market containing a substantial number of target consumers.\n\n5  Prescribed program\n\n  For the purposes of subsection 33(1) of the Act, the program specified in item 1 of the following table is prescribed.\n\n \n\n- Prescribed program\n- Item Column 1Program Column 2Description and purpose of the program\n- 1 Gas Acceleration Program The program provides funding to:(a) encourage direct investment in onshore natural gas projects that are likely to secure new and significant volumes of natural gas for domestic gas consumers in target markets; and(b) address potential natural gas supply shortfalls in target markets.\n\n\n6  Specified legislative power\n\n  For the purposes of subsection 33(3) of the Act, the powers of the Parliament under paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution to make laws with respect to foreign corporations and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth are specified.\n\n7  Eligibility criteria relating to program\n\n  For the purposes of subsection 33(4) of the Act, the eligibility criteria relating to the program include the requirement that applicants must be trading or financial corporations to which paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution applies.\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"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument does not amend the parent Act. It prescribes a named program under the Act (s5), specifies the constitutional power relied upon (s6), and narrows applicant eligibility to trading/financial corporations (s7). It confines scope to onshore projects supplying domestic markets but does not expand the Act's statutory powers beyond their existing framework."},"complexity_factors":["Short, targeted instrument that mainly designates a single program rather than setting detailed rules (s5).","Relies on external statute for detailed power and processes (made under Industry Research and Development Act 1986; s3), so implementation details sit outside this instrument.","Specifies constitutional basis and eligibility tied to corporations (s6 and s7 — paragraph 51(xx)), which introduces constitutional/formal constraints on who may apply.","Key definitional terms are imprecise and fact-dependent (eg. \"tight supply‑demand balance\", \"material benefit\", \"substantial number of target consumers\") creating interpretive uncertainty (s4).","No detailed funding, assessment, or administration rules in the instrument — operational discretion and administrative burden are left to other instruments or departmental practice, increasing implementation uncertainty.","Commencement mechanics are straightforward but formalised in a table (s2), requiring attention to registration timing for effect."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument prescribes the \"Gas Acceleration Program\": a government funding program to encourage onshore natural gas projects that would supply additional gas to Australian domestic consumers in markets facing tight supply. It restricts applicants to trading or financial corporations (paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution), so it mainly affects gas producers and corporations seeking program funding and targets domestic consumers in defined \"target markets\" who would benefit from extra gas."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument appears to match its original intent. It is a simple prescription instrument that establishes the Gas Acceleration Program with the specific purpose of funding onshore gas projects for domestic supply. There is no evidence of scope creep — the instrument is tightly focused on its stated purpose and does not expand beyond the gas acceleration mandate."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument — only 7 sections spanning approximately 2 pages","Only 4 defined terms in section 4, all straightforward","Single cross-reference to the Industry Research and Development Act 1986 (parent Act)","No nested exceptions or conditional logic — eligibility is a single straightforward criterion","Minimal procedural detail — most operational matters presumably left to program guidelines or the parent Act"],"plain_english_summary":"The instrument establishes the Gas Acceleration Program: a government grant scheme that gives taxpayer money to qualifying gas corporations to develop onshore natural gas projects aimed at boosting supply for Australian businesses, power generators and households in areas experiencing shortages. It matters because it limits applicants to trading/financial corporations, directs funding to domestic (not export) supply, and rests on the Commonwealth’s corporations power as its legal basis."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/industry-research-and-development-gas-acceleration-program-instrument-2017","history":"/api/acts/industry-research-and-development-gas-acceleration-program-instrument-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/industry-research-and-development-gas-acceleration-program-instrument-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/industry-research-and-development-gas-acceleration-program-instrument-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/industry-research-and-development-gas-acceleration-program-instrument-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/industry-research-and-development-gas-acceleration-program-instrument-2017/documents"}}