{"id":"professional-standards-regulations-2007","name":"PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS REGULATIONS 2007","slug":"professional-standards-regulations-2007","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":177124,"registerId":"nt-professional-standards-regulations-2007-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS REGULATIONS 2007","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nPROFESSIONAL STANDARDS REGULATIONS 2007\nAs in force at 1 January 2008\nTable of provisions\nPart 1 Preliminary matters\n1 Citation ............................................................................................ 1\n2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1\n3 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1\nPart 2 Fees and charges\n4 Application fee – approval of scheme .............................................. 1\n5 Annual fee period ............................................................................ 2\n6 Amount of annual fee ...................................................................... 2\n7 Payment of annual fee ..................................................................... 3\n8 Interest on overdue annual fee ........................................................ 3\n9 Remission of amounts payable........................................................ 4\nPart 3 Form of statement\n10 Notification of limitation of liability .................................................... 4\nPart 4 Transitional matters\n11 Annual fee ....................................................................................... 4\nENDNOTES\n\n\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 1 January 2008\n____________________\nPROFESSIONAL STANDARDS REGULATIONS 2007\nRegulations under the Professional Standards Act 2004\nPart 1 Preliminary matters\n1 Citation\nThese Regulations may be cited as the Professional Standards\nRegulations 2007.\n2 Commencement\nThese Regulations commence on the date fixed by the Minister by\nGazette notice.\n3 Definitions\nIn these Regulations:\nannual fee means the annual fee mentioned in section 58(2)(b) of\nthe Act.\nannual fee period, for a scheme, see regulation 5.\nPart 2 Fees and charges\n4 Application fee – approval of scheme\nA fee of $5 000 must accompany an application by an occupational\nassociation for the Council's approval of:\n(a) a scheme prepared under section 7 of the Act; or\n(b) an amendment to, or the revocation of, such a scheme.\n\nPart 2 Fees and charges\nProfessional Standards Regulations 2007 2\n5 Annual fee period\n(1) Subject to subregulation (2)(b), the annual fee period for a scheme\nis each 12 month period commencing on:\n(a) the date on which the scheme commences and each\nanniversary of that date; or\n(b) if subregulation (2)(a) applies – the date as varied and each\nanniversary of that date.\n(2) An occupational association and the Council may, by agreement:\n(a) vary the date on which the annual fee period commences; and\n(b) vary the length of a particular annual fee period to give effect\nto the date varied under paragraph (a).\nExample for subregulation (2)(b):\nA scheme commences on 1 April 2007 and, in February 2008, the occupational\nassociation and the Council agree to vary the date the annual fee period\ncommences to 1 July 2008 and each anniversary of that date. There are\n2 options to give effect to the new date:\n(a) a 12 month annual fee period from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 and a\nsubsequent annual fee period of 3 months from 1 April 2008 to\n30 June 2008; or\n(b) a 15 month annual fee period from 1 April 2007 to 30 June 2008.\n6 Amount of annual fee\n(1) This regulation applies to an occupational association any of whose\nmembers are subject to a scheme in force under the Act.\n(2) Subject to subregulation (4), the annual fee payable to the Council\nby the association is $50 for each person to whom the scheme\napplies.\n(3) For subregulation (2), the scheme applies to a person if the person\nis a member of the association at any time during the relevant\nannual fee period.\n(4) If the length of a particular fee period is varied under\nregulation 5(2)(b), the association and the Council may, by\nagreement, vary the annual fee payable for each person for that\nperiod.\n\nPart 2 Fees and charges\nProfessional Standards Regulations 2007 3\n7 Payment of annual fee\n(1) The annual fee must be paid:\n(a) if the annual fee period commences during the 3 month period\nending on 31 March in a year – not later than 31 March in that\nyear; or\n(b) if the annual fee period commences during the 3 month period\nending on 30 June in a year – not later than 30 June in that\nyear; or\n(c) if the annual fee period commences during the 3 month period\nending on 30 September in a year – not later than\n30 September in that year; or\n(d) if the annual fee period commences during the 3 month period\nending on 31 December in a year – not later than 31 January\nin the following year.\n(2) If a scheme starts to apply to an additional member after the annual\nfee period has commenced, the annual fee for the member must be\npaid:\n(a) if the scheme starts to apply during the 3 month period ending\non 31 March in a year – not later than 31 March in that year;\nor\n(b) if the scheme starts to apply during the 3 month period ending\non 30 June in a year – not later than 30 June in that year; or\n(c) if the scheme starts to apply during the 3 month period ending\non 30 September in a year – not later than 30 September in\nthat year; or\n(d) if the scheme starts to apply during the 3 month period ending\non 31 December in a year – not later than 31 January in the\nfollowing year.\n8 Interest on overdue annual fee\nIf any amount of the annual fee is not paid within 30 days after it is\ndue, simple interest at the rate of 0.05% per day is payable to the\nCouncil on the outstanding balance.\n\nPart 4 Transitional matters\nProfessional Standards Regulations 2007 4\n9 Remission of amounts payable\nThe Council may remit the whole or any part of any or all of the\nfollowing:\n(a) a fee payable under regulation 4(a) or (b);\n(b) the annual fee payable under regulation 6;\n(c) interest payable under regulation 8.\nPart 3 Form of statement\n10 Notification of limitation of liability\nFor section 34(2) of the Act, the following form of statement is\nprescribed:\nLiability limited by a scheme approved under Professional\nStandards Legislation.\nPart 4 Transitional matters\n11 Annual fee\n(1) This regulation applies to an annual fee period as defined in\nclause 1 of Schedule 4 to the Act that begins before the\ncommencement of these regulations.\n(2) Clauses 3 to 6 of Schedule 4 to the Act continue to apply to the\nannual fee payable for the annual fee period.\n\nENDNOTES\nProfessional Standards Regulations 2007 5\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nProfessional Standards Regulations (SL No. 40, 2007)\nNotified 24 December 2007\nCommenced 1 January 2008 (Gaz S41, 24 December 2007)\n3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: r 1.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"These Regulations implement administrative details (fees, payment timing, interest, remission, and form of notice) for schemes operating under the Professional Standards Act. They do not, on their face, expand or narrow which professions or liabilities are covered by the Act; they set operational and cost rules for occupational associations and the administering Council."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple interlocking timing rules for annual fee periods and staggered payment deadlines (regulations 5 and 7)","Per-member fee calculation with an exception for agreed variations to fee amounts or period length (regulation 6(2),(4) and 5(2))","Daily simple interest on overdue amounts introducing precise arithmetic and record-keeping (regulation 8)","Discretionary remission power vested in the Council affecting fiscal outcomes (regulation 9)","Cross-references to the Act and Schedule 4 for defined terms and transitional application (regulation 3 and 11)","A prescribed, mandatory short form of notification that must be used in communications (regulation 10)"],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations set the administrative costs, timing and form requirements for occupational associations that run approved professional standards schemes. They prescribe a $5,000 application fee, a default $50 annual fee per member (with scope for agreed adjustments), quarterly-linked payment deadlines, a daily simple interest rate for late payments, a power for the Council to remit fees, and a short prescribed notice of limited liability. Occupational associations pay the fees; the Council approves schemes, may vary fee periods by agreement, and can remit amounts, which changes associations' budgeting and compliance timing."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain tightly focused on their original purpose: establishing the administrative machinery (fees, payment timing, and notification requirements) necessary to operationalise the Professional Standards Act 2004. There is no evidence of scope creep; the content covers exactly what would be expected for subordinate legislation of this type."},"complexity_factors":["Short length (11 regulations total, 5 pages)","Minimal defined terms (only 2 explicit definitions in regulation 3, though others are implicit)","Straightforward fee structure with basic arithmetic calculations","Simple conditional logic limited to quarterly payment deadlines (regulation 7) and transitional arrangements (regulation 11)","Single cross-reference to parent Act (Professional Standards Act 2004) in regulations 3, 4, 6, 10 and 11","One nested provision (regulation 5(2)(b) within 5(2)) allowing variation of fee periods","No exceptions to exceptions or deeply layered conditional structures","Prescribed form in regulation 10 is a single sentence with no variables"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does:**\n\nThese regulations set out the practical details for how the Northern Territory's Professional Standards Act 2004 actually works day-to-day. They deal with money matters and paperwork requirements for professional associations (like groups of accountants, engineers, or lawyers) who want to limit their members' legal liability.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **Occupational associations** – groups representing professionals who want to set up a \"scheme\" (an approved plan) to cap how much members can be sued for\n- **Individual professionals** – who ultimately pay for this protection through fees passed on by their associations\n- **The Professional Standards Council** – the body that approves these schemes and collects the fees\n\n**Key things covered:**\n\n- **Fees:**\n  - **$5,000 application fee** to get a scheme approved (or to change/cancel one)\n  - **$50 per member per year** ongoing fee to keep the scheme running\n  - **Interest charges** (0.05% per day) if fees are paid late\n  - **Power to waive fees** – the Council can let associations off paying if circumstances warrant\n\n- **Timing rules:**\n  - Fees are due in quarterly blocks (March, June, September, or January depending on when the scheme year starts)\n  - Special rules for new members who join part-way through a year\n  - Associations can negotiate different dates with the Council if needed\n\n- **Required wording:**\n  - Professionals must use this exact statement on documents: *\"Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.\"*\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nProfessional liability schemes let professionals (like architects or consultants) limit how much they can be sued for if they make mistakes. These regulations make sure there's a proper funding mechanism to support this system and ensure consumers are properly notified when they're dealing with someone whose liability is capped. Without these fee and notification rules, the whole liability-limiting system couldn't function."},"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"},"summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Insufficient text has been provided to assess whether the scope of these regulations changed from their original intent. Only administrative metadata is available — no substantive provisions, amendments, or explanatory materials are present to make this determination."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely limited legislative text provided — only metadata is available, making substantive analysis impossible","Regulations are secondary/subordinate legislation, meaning they operate in conjunction with a parent Act (Professional Standards Act), adding a layer of interpretive complexity","Professional standards liability schemes can involve complex interactions between state, territory and federal law","The legislation affects multiple professional industries with different regulatory frameworks"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations are the technical, supporting rules for the Professional Standards Act (in force from 1 Jan 2008). They set out how approved liability‑cap schemes operate in practice, affecting professionals (e.g. lawyers, accountants, engineers, architects) who join approved associations, the clients who seek compensation, and the associations that apply for scheme approval. They matter because they enable the Act’s regime of capped liability in exchange for higher professional standards."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/professional-standards-regulations-2007","history":"/api/acts/professional-standards-regulations-2007/history","analysis":"/api/acts/professional-standards-regulations-2007/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/professional-standards-regulations-2007/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/professional-standards-regulations-2007/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/professional-standards-regulations-2007/documents"}}