{"id":"C2008A00148","name":"Road Charges Legislation Repeal and Amendment Act 2008","slug":"road-charges-legislation-repeal-and-amendment-act-2008","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"148 of 2008","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":8087,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2008A00148-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Road Charges Legislation Repeal and Amendment Act 2008","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![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nRoad Charges Legislation Repeal and Amendment Act 2008\n\n \n\nNo. 148, 2008\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to repeal and amend the law relating to road charges, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Schedule(s)\n\n4 Review of Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program\n\nSchedule 1—Repeal of the Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993\n\nRoad Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993\n\nSchedule 2—Amendments relating to the repeal of the Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993\n\nRoad Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997\n\nSchedule 3—Amendment of the Fuel Tax Act 2006\n\nFuel Tax Act 2006\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nRoad Charges Legislation Repeal and Amendment Act 2008\n\nNo. 148, 2008\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to repeal and amend the law relating to road charges, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 11 December 2008]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Road Charges Legislation Repeal and Amendment Act 2008.\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- Provision(s) Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. Sections 1 to 3 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table The day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. 11 December 2008\n- 2. Schedules 1 and 2 Immediately before the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Act (No. 2) 2008. 12 February 2009\n- 3. Schedule 3 1 January 2009. 1 January 2009\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally passed by both Houses of the Parliament and assented to. It will not be expanded to deal with provisions inserted in this Act after assent.\n\n (2) Column 3 of the table contains additional information that is not part of this Act. Information in this column may be added to or edited in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Schedule(s)\n\n  Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.\n\n4  Review of Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program\n\n (1) The Minister must cause a review of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program to be conducted.\n\n (2) The review must:\n\n (a) start on the third anniversary of the commencement of this section; and\n\n (b) be completed within 6 months.\n\n (3) The Minister must cause a written report about the review to be prepared.\n\n (4) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days after the Minister receives the report.\n\n\n\n\nSchedule 1—Repeal of the Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993\n\n \n\nRoad Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993\n\n1  The whole of the Act\n\nRepeal the Act.\n\n\n\n\nSchedule 2—Amendments relating to the repeal of the Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993\n\n \n\nRoad Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997\n\n1  Paragraphs 9(c), 10(1)(g) and 17(2)(f)\n\nRepeal the paragraphs.\n\n2  Section 30\n\nRepeal the section.\n\n\n\n\nSchedule 3—Amendment of the Fuel Tax Act 2006\n\n \n\nFuel Tax Act 2006\n\n1  Subsection 43‑10(3)\n\nOmit “, determined by the *Transport Minister”, substitute “for the fuel”.\n\n2  Subsection 43‑10(5)\n\nRepeal the subsection.\n\n4  At the end of section 43‑10\n\nAdd:\n\nDetermining the rate of road user charge\n\n (7) The amount of road user charge for taxable fuel is worked out using the following rate:\n\n (a) if no rate has been determined by the *Transport Minister—21 cents for each litre of the fuel;\n\n (b) otherwise—the rate determined by the Transport Minister.\n\n (8) For the purposes of subsection (7), the *Transport Minister may determine, by legislative instrument, the rate of the road user charge.\n\n (9) Before the *Transport Minister determines an increased rate of road user charge, the Transport Minister must:\n\n (a) make the following publicly available for at least 60 days:\n\n (i) the proposed increased rate of road user charge;\n\n (ii) any information that was relied on in determining the proposed increased rate; and\n\n (b) consider any comments received, within the period specified by the Transport Minister, from the public in relation to the proposed increased rate.\n\n (10) However, the *Transport Minister may, as a result of considering any comments received from the public in accordance with subsection (9), determine a rate of road user charge that is different from the proposed rate that was made publicly available without making that different rate publicly available in accordance with that subsection.\n\n (11) In determining the *road user charge, the *Transport Minister must not apply a method for indexing the charge.\n\n (12) The *Transport Minister must not make more than one determination in a financial year if the effect of the determination would be to increase the *road user charge more than once in that financial year.\n\n9  Application\n\nThe amendments made by this Schedule apply to taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into, Australia on or after 1 January 2009.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 25 September 2008\n\nSenate on 10 November 2008]\n\n(184/08)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act stays within the scope implied by its title—repealing an ACT road‑charges statute and amending related Commonwealth road/fuel‑tax law and heavy‑vehicle provisions. It consolidates federal rate‑setting for the road user charge and imposes consultation and frequency constraints but does not materially expand into unrelated policy areas. The addition of a formal review of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program is consistent with the Act's focus on heavy vehicle charging and regulation rather than representing a scope expansion."},"complexity_factors":["Act is short: 4 main sections and 3 Schedules.","Alters and repeals provisions in three other Acts (cross‑references to Road Transport Charges (ACT) Act 1993; Road Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997; Fuel Tax Act 2006).","Introduces ministerial rule‑making by legislative instrument for the road user charge (new s.43‑10(8) in Schedule 3).","Adds procedural conditions on ministerial determinations: 60‑day public availability and comment consideration (new s.43‑10(9)–(10)).","Creates substantive constraints: prohibition on indexing (new s.43‑10(11)) and a limit on multiple increases in a single financial year (new s.43‑10(12)).","Default rate clause (21 cents per litre) interacting with ministerial determinations (new s.43‑10(7)) — introduces conditional logic.","Multiple commencement dates and a specific application date (Schedule 3 applies from 1 Jan 2009) increase practical complexity for transition.","Some drafting ambiguity that could require administrative or judicial interpretation (e.g. the clause about not increasing more than once in a financial year depending on effect)."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does, in one paragraph**\n\nThis short Commonwealth law removes an old Australian Capital Territory (ACT) road‑charges law, adjusts a couple of related heavy‑vehicle registration provisions, changes how the federal road user charge (a tax-like charge applied to taxable fuel used on roads) is set, and requires a review of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program. Mechanically, it repeals the Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993 (Schedule 1), removes specified paragraphs and a section from the Road Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997 (Schedule 2), and amends the Fuel Tax Act 2006 so the Transport Minister sets the road user charge by legislative instrument but with defined constraints and consultation rules (Schedule 3). The Act also requires a ministerial review of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program to start three years after section 4 commences and to be finished within six months, with the report tabled in Parliament.\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- Fuel suppliers, transport operators and anyone who buys \"taxable fuel\" for use on public roads are affected because the law changes how the road user charge (an amount applied per litre of taxable fuel) is set (Schedule 3, amending Fuel Tax Act 2006 s.43‑10).\n- Entities in the ACT that were operating under the repealed Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993 are affected because that Act is entirely repealed (Schedule 1).\n- Owners and operators of heavy vehicles are indirectly affected by the repeal and by the review of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program (section 4 and Schedule 2 amendments to the Road Transport Reform Act 1997).\n\n**How the change works, step by step (mechanics)**\n\n- Repeal: The whole Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993 is repealed (Schedule 1, item 1). Related references in the Road Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997 are also removed (Schedule 2, items 1–2).\n\n- Fuel tax / road user charge (Schedule 3, amending Fuel Tax Act 2006 s.43‑10):\n  - If the Transport Minister has not made a determination of the rate, the default road user charge is 21 cents per litre (new s.43‑10(7)(a)).\n  - The Transport Minister may determine the road user charge rate by legislative instrument (new s.43‑10(8)). That is, the Minister issues a delegated instrument (not an Act of Parliament) to set the rate.\n  - Before determining an increased rate, the Minister must publish the proposed increase and the supporting information for at least 60 days and consider public comments received in the period set by the Minister (new s.43‑10(9)).\n  - The Minister may adopt a different rate from the publicly proposed rate after considering comments without having to re‑publish that different rate under the same 60‑day process (new s.43‑10(10)).\n  - The Minister must not apply an indexing method to the road user charge (new s.43‑10(11)).\n  - The Minister must not make more than one determination in a financial year if the effect would be to increase the road user charge more than once in that financial year (new s.43‑10(12)).\n  - These Fuel Tax Act changes apply to taxable fuel acquired, manufactured or imported on or after 1 January 2009 (Schedule 3, item 9).\n\n- Review requirement: The Minister must cause a review of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program to start on the third anniversary of the commencement of the review section, be completed within six months, produce a written report, and have that report laid before each House of Parliament within 15 sitting days of receipt (section 4).\n\n**Why it matters (claimed purpose and what that implies mechanically)**\n\n- Claimed purpose: the measures simplify or update road‑charge law (by repealing the ACT-specific statute and consolidating rate-setting rules at the federal level) and introduce procedural constraints around future increases in the federal road user charge.\n\n- Mechanical implications and incentives:\n  - Decision power: the Transport Minister (federal) gains a clear power to set the road user charge by legislative instrument (new s.43‑10(8)). That centralises rate-setting discretion at the Commonwealth executive level rather than leaving a default or other mechanism in place.\n  - Transparency and consultation: before increasing the rate, the Minister must publish the proposed rate and supporting information for at least 60 days and consider submissions (new s.43‑10(9)). This creates a formal, though Minister‑controlled, consultation window that suppliers and big users (heavy transport operators) can use to make representations.\n  - Limits on automatic indexation and frequency: the prohibition on applying an indexing method (new s.43‑10(11)) prevents automatic yearly adjustments tied to an index; the restriction on multiple effective increases in a single financial year (new s.43‑10(12)) limits how frequently the Minister can raise the per‑litre charge in practice.\n  - Default rate: where the Minister has not made a determination, the road user charge defaults to 21 cents per litre (new s.43‑10(7)(a)), providing a known baseline.\n\n**Costs, trade‑offs and implementation considerations**\n\n- Who pays: the ultimate economic incidence falls on purchasers/users of taxable fuel (transport operators, fuel consumers) and potentially on customers of transport services if operators pass costs on.\n\n- Concentrated vs diffuse impacts: heavy vehicle operators and fuel retailers are concentrated groups likely to monitor and respond to determinations; ordinary motorists are a diffuse group and less likely to engage in the consultation process.\n\n- Bureaucratic discretion and rule‑making: the use of a legislative instrument gives the Minister flexibility and faster adjustment capability than primary legislation, but shifts substantive rate decisions from Parliament to executive instruments subject to regulation‑making processes and possible disallowance (parliamentary scrutiny mechanisms for legislative instruments remain relevant).\n\n- Consultation mechanics and strategic possibilities: the 60‑day publication requirement increases transparency but the Minister controls the length of the comment period (\"the period specified by the Transport Minister\"); the Minister is allowed to adopt a different final rate than the one published without re‑publishing (s.43‑10(10)), which limits the effective protection that publication otherwise provides.\n\n- Legal and practical ambiguity: phrases such as \"if the effect of the determination would be to increase the road user charge more than once in that financial year\" could raise interpretive questions in application (for example, how aggregated effects of multiple determinations are treated).\n\n- Administrative burden: fuel suppliers and relevant businesses must track legislative instruments and apply the correct per‑litre charge from the specified application date; the Act contains transitional timing (application from 1 Jan 2009 for Schedule 3) and staggered commencements for other Schedules (Commencement table, section 2).\n\n**Net operational effect**\n\n- The Act removes the ACT‑specific road charge law and consolidates federal rate‑setting for the road user charge under ministerial legislative instruments, with a default 21c/L where no instrument exists, a formal sixty‑day public exposure step before increases, a ban on automatic indexation, and a limit on multiple increases in a single financial year. It also mandates a time‑bound review of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program.\n\n(References: short title and commencement — sections 1–2; review requirement — section 4; Schedule 1 (repeal of Road Transport Charges (ACT) Act 1993); Schedule 2 (amendments to Road Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997); Schedule 3 (insertions to Fuel Tax Act 2006, notably new subsections 43‑10(7)–(12) and application clause).)"},"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: repealing obsolete road charges legislation and amending fuel tax provisions related to road user charges. The review provision in section 4 and the consultation requirements in Schedule 3 are directly related to the heavy vehicle charging system being reformed."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute with only 4 operative sections and 3 schedules","Straightforward repeal of entire Act in Schedule 1 (no conditional logic)","Simple mechanical amendments in Schedule 2 (repealing specific paragraphs and one section)","Schedule 3 contains modest conditional logic (default rate vs determined rate, public consultation requirements with 60-day period)","Only 1 defined term used with asterisk notation (*Transport Minister*, *road user charge*)","No nested exceptions or complex cross-referencing between Acts beyond basic consequential amendments","Clear application provision specifying exact date (1 January 2009)"],"plain_english_summary":"This law cleans up Australia's road charge system and changes how fuel taxes work for heavy vehicles.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Repeals an old ACT-specific law** (Schedule 1): Gets rid of the *Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993*, which was a leftover from when the ACT had its own separate road charging system.\n- **Removes related references** (Schedule 2): Cleans up the *Road Transport Reform (Heavy Vehicles Registration) Act 1997* by removing paragraphs and a section that referred to the now-repealed ACT Act.\n- **Changes fuel tax rules** (Schedule 3): Amends the *Fuel Tax Act 2006* to set a **default road user charge** of 21 cents per litre if the Transport Minister hasn't set a specific rate. It also adds new rules for how the Minister can increase this charge, including:\n  - Publishing proposed increases publicly for at least 60 days\n  - Considering public comments\n  - Only allowing one increase per financial year\n  - Banning automatic indexation (automatic increases tied to inflation)\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Heavy vehicle operators and trucking companies who pay fuel tax and road user charges\n- The Transport Minister, who now has clearer (but more restricted) powers to set road user charge rates\n- Fuel businesses dealing with fuel tax credits\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is part of broader reforms to create a national, consistent system for charging heavy vehicles for road use. It removes outdated ACT-specific legislation and puts clearer boundaries on how much and how often the government can increase road user charges, giving industry more predictability."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/road-charges-legislation-repeal-and-amendment-act-2008","history":"/api/acts/road-charges-legislation-repeal-and-amendment-act-2008/history","analysis":"/api/acts/road-charges-legislation-repeal-and-amendment-act-2008/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/road-charges-legislation-repeal-and-amendment-act-2008/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/road-charges-legislation-repeal-and-amendment-act-2008/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/road-charges-legislation-repeal-and-amendment-act-2008/documents"}}