{"id":"F2026L00250","name":"Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Rules 2026","slug":"private-health-insurance-national-joint-replacement-register-levy-rules-2026","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":443192,"registerId":"F2026L00250-fast-fetch-1775958097416","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Rules 2026","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nPrivate Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Rules 2026\n\nI, Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Ageing, make the following rules.\n\nDated           11 March 2026   \n\nMark Butler\n\nMinister for Health and Ageing\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Schedules\n\n5  Definitions\n\nPart 2—Levy day\n\n6  Levy day\n\nPart 3—Rate of levy\n\n7  Rate of levy\n\nPart 4—Liability for payment of levy\n\n8  Who is liable to pay national joint replacement register levy?\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nPrivate Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Rule 2015\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Rules 2026.\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- The whole of this instrument 1 April 2026. 1 April 2026\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made.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 the Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Act 2009.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) joint replacement device;\n\n(b) national joint replacement register levy;\n\n(c) national joint replacement register levy day;\n\n(d) Private Health Insurance (Medical Devices and Human Tissue Products) Rules;\n\n(e) register.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Private Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Act 2009.\n\nlevy means national joint replacement register levy.\n\nlevy day means a national joint replacement register levy day.\n\nPart 2—Levy day\n\n \n\n6  Levy day\n\n  For paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Act, 30 November in each financial year is specified as a levy day for the financial year.\n\n \n\nPart 3—Rate of levy\n\n \n\n7  Rate of levy\n\n (1) For item 1 of the table in subsection 7(1) of the Act, the rate of levy for a levy day for the recording on the register of the provision of a joint replacement device is worked out under subsections (2) and (3).\n\nStep 1—rate of levy if base amount equals or exceeds $5 000\n\n (2) The rate of levy for the joint replacement device for the levy day is $5 000 if the amount (the base amount) worked out for the joint replacement device for the levy day using the following formula equals or exceeds $5 000:\n\n![Start formula start fraction device benefit amount over total benefit amount end fraction times NJRR funding amount end formula](image.002.png)\n\nStep 2—rate of levy if base amount is less than $5 000\n\n (3) If the base amount under subsection (2) for the joint replacement device for the levy day is less than $5 000, the rate of levy for the joint replacement device (the relevant joint replacement device) for the levy day is the lesser of $5 000 and the amount worked out for the relevant joint replacement device for the levy day using the following formula:\n\n![Start formula start fraction device benefit amount over adjusted total benefit amount end fraction times open square bracket NJRR funding amount minus open round bracket $5000 times n close round bracket close square bracket end formula](image.003.png)\n\nwhere:\n\nadjusted total benefit amount means:\n\n (a) the total benefit amount for the levy day; less\n\n (b) the sum of each device benefit amount for the levy day for a joint replacement device for which:\n\n (i) the base amount for the levy day exceeds the base amount for the relevant joint replacement device for the levy day; and\n\n (ii) the rate of levy worked out under subsection (2) or this subsection for the levy day equals or exceeds $5 000.\n\nn means the number of joint replacement devices for the levy day for which:\n\n (a) the base amount for the levy day exceeds the base amount for the relevant joint replacement device for the levy day; and\n\n (b) the rate of levy worked out under subsection (2) or this subsection for the levy day equals or exceeds $5 000.\n\nDefinitions\n\n (4) In this section:\n\ndevice benefit amount for a joint replacement device for a levy day means the amount worked out by multiplying:\n\n (a) the number of recordings on the register of the provision of the joint replacement device during the financial year ending before the levy day (being recordings made on or before the 30 September before the levy day); by\n\n (b) the minimum benefit for the joint replacement device set out, or worked out using the method set out, in the Private Health Insurance (Medical Devices and Human Tissue Products) Rules, as in force immediately before the levy day, made for the purposes of item 4 of the table in subsection 72‑1(2) of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007.\n\nNJRR funding amount means:\n\n1.     for the levy day on 30 November 2026 — $3,638,000;\n2.     for the levy day on 30 November 2027 — $3,703,000;\n3.     for the levy day on 30 November 2028 — $3,405,000.\n\n\ntotal benefit amount for a levy day means the sum of each device benefit amount for a joint replacement device for which a recording was made on the register of the provision of the joint replacement device during the financial year ending before the levy day (being a recording made on or before the 30 September before the levy day).\n\nPart 4—Liability for payment of levy\n\n \n\n8  Who is liable to pay national joint replacement register levy?\n\n  For section 7A of the Act, levy imposed in relation to a joint replacement device for a financial year is payable by the person mentioned for the device in Schedule 1 to the Private Health Insurance (Medical Devices and Human Tissue Products) Rules in force on the levy day for that financial year.  \n\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nPrivate Health Insurance (National Joint Replacement Register Levy) Rule 2015\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":7,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument replaces the 2015 rules (Schedule 1) and updates levy mechanics and inputs: it fixes the levy day as 30 November (s6), prescribes a new two-step allocation and adjustment method for per-device levies (s7(1)–(3)), specifies NJRR funding amounts for 2026–2028 (s7(4)), and confirms liable payers by reference to the Medical Devices Rules (s8). These changes alter how levy amounts are calculated and allocated compared with the repealed instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Multi-step, conditional levy calculation with fallback (s7(1)–(3)) requiring selection between formulas based on a 'base amount' threshold","Interdependent allocation via 'adjusted total benefit amount' and 'n' which make a device's levy depend on other devices' base amounts and levy outcomes (s7(3))","Use of recorded device counts and externally-sourced minimum benefit values (device benefit amount uses recordings and the Private Health Insurance (Medical Devices and Human Tissue Products) Rules) (s7(4)(a)–(b))","Fixed, year-specific NJRR funding amounts explicitly listed for 2026–2028 (s7(4) NJRR funding amount)","Cross-references to the Act and to another instrument for determining liable persons and minimum benefits (ss3, 7(4)(b), 8)","Precise timing rules for recording windows (recordings made on or before 30 September before levy day) and a fixed levy day (30 November) which create narrow reporting and calculation periods (s6; s7(4)(a))","Repeal of the 2015 Rules in whole (Schedule 1), requiring stakeholders to map prior obligations to the new rules","Commencement and transitional clarity is provided but requires stakeholders to align systems by a set date (s2)"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument sets the mechanics for the National Joint Replacement Register levy: it fixes the levy day as 30 November each financial year, names who must pay, and prescribes a two-step formula that converts recorded device counts and minimum benefit values into a per-device levy. It also lists the NJRR funding totals for the levy days in 2026–2028 and repeals the 2015 rules.\n\nThe law affects entities identified in the Private Health Insurance (Medical Devices and Human Tissue Products) Rules (those persons are liable to pay) and matters because it changes how levy amounts are allocated and collected."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains the original scope of funding the National Joint Replacement Register through insurer levies. The 2026 rules appear to be a straightforward re-enactment with updated funding amounts ($3.638m, $3.703m, $3.405m) replacing the 2015 figures, plus the repeal of the old instrument. The core mechanism — calculating levies based on device benefit amounts with a $5,000 cap — remains unchanged from the original intent."},"complexity_factors":["Nested conditional logic with two-step calculation methodology (subsections 7(2) and 7(3))","Cross-references to external instruments: Private Health Insurance (Medical Devices and Human Tissue Products) Rules and the parent Act","Mathematical formulas with multiple defined variables (device benefit amount, total benefit amount, adjusted total benefit amount, NJRR funding amount, base amount, n)","Temporal complexity: calculations depend on recordings made 'during the financial year ending before the levy day' and 'on or before 30 September before the levy day'","Defined terms section references definitions located in the parent Act rather than self-contained","Cascading definitions where 'adjusted total benefit amount' and 'n' depend on calculations performed for other devices under subsection (2) or (3)"],"plain_english_summary":"Private health insurers must pay an annual levy (due 30 November) to fund the National Joint Replacement Register from a fixed pool (about $3.4–$3.7M). Payments are allocated by insurers’ share of covered joint replacement devices, with a $5,000 cap per device type and reduced amounts for smaller shares; liability follows the person named in the Medical Devices Rules. The instrument replaces the 2015 rules and affects insurers and the Australian Orthopaedic Association, keeping NJRR funded without taxpayer money."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/private-health-insurance-national-joint-replacement-register-levy-rules-2026","history":"/api/acts/private-health-insurance-national-joint-replacement-register-levy-rules-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/private-health-insurance-national-joint-replacement-register-levy-rules-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/private-health-insurance-national-joint-replacement-register-levy-rules-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/private-health-insurance-national-joint-replacement-register-levy-rules-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/private-health-insurance-national-joint-replacement-register-levy-rules-2026/documents"}}