{"id":"C2020A00123","name":"Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Act 2020","slug":"recycling-and-waste-reduction-charges-general-act-2020","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"123 of 2020","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436340,"registerId":"C2020A00123-fast-fetch-1775953566736","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Act 2020","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.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nRecycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Act 2020\n\n \n\nNo. 123, 2020\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose, as taxes, charges relating to the export of waste material, so far as those charges are neither duties of customs nor duties of excise, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Crown to be bound\n\n4 Extension to external Territories\n\n5 Definitions\n\n6 Act does not impose tax on property of State\n\nPart 2—Charges in relation to the export of regulated waste material\n\n7 Imposition of charges\n\n8 Matters relating to amount of charges\n\n9 Who is liable to pay charges\n\n10 Exemptions from charges\n\nPart 3—Miscellaneous\n\n11 Regulations\n\n \n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.002.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nRecycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Act 2020\n\nNo. 123, 2020\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose, as taxes, charges relating to the export of waste material, so far as those charges are neither duties of customs nor duties of excise, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 15 December 2020]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act is the Recycling and Waste Reduction Charges (General) Act 2020.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act 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 Act The later of:(a) the start of the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent; and(b) immediately after the commencement of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020.However, the provisions do not commence at all if the event mentioned in paragraph (b) does not occur. 16 December 2020(paragraph (b) applies)\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Crown to be bound\n\n  This Act binds the Crown in right of each of the States, of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Northern Territory. However, it does not bind the Crown in right of the Commonwealth.\n\n4  Extension to external Territories\n\n  This Act extends to every external Territory.\n\n5  Definitions\n\n  In this Act:\n\nregulated waste material has the same meaning as in the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020.\n\n6  Act does not impose tax on property of State\n\n (1) This Act does not impose a tax on property of any kind belonging to a State.\n\n (2) In this section:\n\nproperty of any kind belonging to a State has the same meaning as in section 114 of the Constitution.\n\nPart 2—Charges in relation to the export of regulated waste material\n\n \n\n7  Imposition of charges\n\n (1) The regulations may prescribe a charge in relation to a matter that relates to the export of regulated waste material.\n\n (2) Two or more charges may be prescribed in relation to the same matter, and a single charge may be prescribed in relation to 2 or more matters.\n\n (3) The charges prescribed for the purposes of subsection (1) are imposed as taxes.\n\n (4) This section imposes a charge only so far as that charge is neither a duty of customs nor a duty of excise within the meaning of section 55 of the Constitution.\n\n8  Matters relating to amount of charges\n\n (1) The regulations may prescribe a charge for the purposes of subsection 7(1):\n\n (a) by specifying an amount as the charge; or\n\n (b) by specifying a method of working out the amount of the charge.\n\n (2) Before the Governor‑General makes regulations for the purposes of subsection 7(1) prescribing a charge in relation to a matter, the Minister must be satisfied that the amount of the charge is set at a level that is designed to recover no more than the Commonwealth’s likely costs in connection with the matter.\n\n9  Who is liable to pay charges\n\n  The regulations may prescribe one or more persons who are liable to pay a specified charge prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7(1).\n\n10  Exemptions from charges\n\n  The regulations may provide for exemptions from a charge prescribed for the purposes of subsection 7(1).\n\nPart 3—Miscellaneous\n\n \n\n11  Regulations\n\n  The Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing matters:\n\n (a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or\n\n (b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 27 August 2020\n\nSenate on 9 November 2020]\n\n \n\n(93/20)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act's scope is to enable regulations imposing taxes on exports of regulated waste material, limited to charges that are not customs or excise and subject to a cost‑recovery requirement. That scope aligns with the Act’s text and commencement condition linking it to the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020; there is no indication in the enacted text that the scope was altered from its original stated purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive delegation of core details to regulations (who pays, amounts, methods, exemptions) increases reliance on secondary instruments (ss7–10).","Constitutional constraint excluding duties of customs or excise requires legal characterisation of charges (s7; reference to s55 of the Constitution).","Cost‑recovery constraint imposes an administrative evidentiary test the Minister must satisfy before regulations are made (s8(2)).","Key terms are defined by cross‑reference to the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, creating inter‑statutory dependency (s5).","Commencement is conditional on the commencement of the related Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020, adding timing complexity (s2).","Provision that the Act binds State Crowns but not the Commonwealth, and the exclusion of State property from tax, raises intergovernmental scope questions (ss3,6).","Regulations may prescribe multiple charges for the same matter and single charges across multiple matters, increasing tariff design complexity (s7(2))."],"plain_english_summary":"Mechanically, the Act authorises regulations to impose charges (treated as taxes) on matters relating to the export of “regulated waste material”, but only so far as those charges are not customs or excise (s7). The regulations identify who must pay, may fix amounts or methods, may create exemptions, and must be set at levels designed to recover no more than the Commonwealth’s likely costs (ss8–10). The Governor‑General makes the regulations and the Minister must satisfy the cost‑recovery requirement (s11; s8(2))."},"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: providing a taxation mechanism for waste export charges. The heavy use of regulation-making powers was clearly intended from the outset, as evidenced by the deliberate structure leaving all operational details to subordinate instruments. No evidence of scope creep beyond the original policy intent of supporting the waste export ban framework."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (only 11 sections across 3 Parts)","Minimal defined terms (only 2 explicit definitions in the Act itself: 'regulated waste material' and 'property of any kind belonging to a State', both incorporating definitions from external sources)","Heavy reliance on delegated legislation — most substantive details (charge amounts, liability, exemptions) left to regulations","Single constitutional safeguard (section 7(4)) ensuring charges are not customs or excise duties","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic within the Act itself","Straightforward cost-recovery mechanism with simple threshold test (section 8(2))"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act creates a framework for the Australian Government to charge fees (framed as taxes) on the export of \"regulated waste material\" — essentially, certain types of waste that the government wants to control or discourage from being shipped overseas.\n\n**Key points:**\n\n- **The charges are taxes, not customs duties:** The law is carefully designed to impose these charges as taxes under the Constitution, not as customs or excise duties (which have different constitutional rules about how they must be structured).\n\n- **The actual charges aren't in this Act:** The law sets up the *machinery* for charges but leaves the details — what the charges are, how much they cost, and who pays them — to be filled in later through regulations (secondary laws made by the Governor-General on ministerial advice).\n\n- **Cost recovery only:** Before any charge is set, the Minister must be satisfied it will recover no more than what it costs the Commonwealth to administer the related matter. This isn't a money-making scheme — it's meant to cover government costs.\n\n- **Who's affected:** Anyone exporting regulated waste material (as defined in the companion Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020) could be liable for these charges, unless exempted by regulations.\n\n- **States aren't immune, but their property is:** The Act binds State governments (meaning they have to follow it), but explicitly protects State-owned property from being taxed.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis is a supporting piece of legislation to Australia's waste export ban regime. It gives the government a funding mechanism to administer and enforce restrictions on sending waste overseas — particularly important as Australia moved to stop exporting certain recyclable materials that were causing environmental and diplomatic headaches."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/recycling-and-waste-reduction-charges-general-act-2020","history":"/api/acts/recycling-and-waste-reduction-charges-general-act-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/recycling-and-waste-reduction-charges-general-act-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/recycling-and-waste-reduction-charges-general-act-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/recycling-and-waste-reduction-charges-general-act-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/recycling-and-waste-reduction-charges-general-act-2020/documents"}}