{"id":"C2018A00165","name":"Road Vehicle Standards Charges (Imposition—Customs) Act 2018","slug":"road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-customs-act-2018","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"165 of 2018","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436299,"registerId":"C2018A00165-fast-fetch-1775953541738","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Road Vehicle Standards Charges (Imposition—Customs) Act 2018","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\nRoad Vehicle Standards Charges (Imposition—Customs) Act 2018\n\n \n\nNo. 165, 2018\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose, as taxes, charges in relation to matters connected with the administration of the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 or the Road Vehicle Standards (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2018, so far as those charges are duties of customs, 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 Act binds the Crown\n\n4 Extraterritorial application\n\n5 Act does not impose tax on property of a State\n\nPart 2—Charges\n\n6 Imposition of charges\n\n7 Matters relating to amount of charges\n\n8 Exemptions from charges\n\nPart 3—Miscellaneous\n\n9 Regulations\n\n \n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nRoad Vehicle Standards Charges (Imposition—Customs) Act 2018\n\nNo. 165, 2018\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose, as taxes, charges in relation to matters connected with the administration of the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 or the Road Vehicle Standards (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2018, so far as those charges are duties of customs, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 10 December 2018]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act is the Road Vehicle Standards Charges (Imposition—Customs) Act 2018.\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. Sections 1 and 2 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent. 11 December 2018\n- 2. Sections 3 to 9 The later of:(a) the start of the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent; and(b) immediately after the commencement of section 3 of the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018.However, the provisions do not commence at all if the event mentioned in paragraph (b) does not occur. 11 December 2018(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  Act binds the Crown\n\n  This Act binds the Crown in each of its capacities.\n\n4  Extraterritorial application\n\n  This Act extends to acts, omissions, matters and things outside Australia (within the meaning of the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018).\n\n5  Act does not impose tax on property of a 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, property of any kind belonging to a State has the same meaning as in section 114 of the Constitution.\n\nPart 2—Charges\n\n \n\n6  Imposition of charges\n\n (1) A regulation may prescribe a charge in relation to a prescribed matter connected with the administration of the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 or the Road Vehicle Standards (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2018.\n\n (2) The charges prescribed under subsection (1) are imposed as taxes.\n\n (3) 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 (4) This section imposes a charge only so far as that charge is a duty of customs within the meaning of section 55 of the Constitution.\n\n7  Matters relating to amount of charges\n\n  A regulation may prescribe a charge under subsection 6(1):\n\n (a) by specifying an amount as the charge; or\n\n (b) by specifying a method for calculating the amount of the charge.\n\n8  Exemptions from charges\n\n  A regulation may provide for exemptions from a charge prescribed under subsection 6(1).\n\nPart 3—Miscellaneous\n\n \n\n9  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 7 February 2018\n\nSenate on 18 June 2018]\n\n \n\n(11/18)\n\n \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":"No. The Act confines its authority to permitting regulations that impose customs‑duty charges tied to administering the Road Vehicle Standards Acts (s6). It does not itself set new taxes beyond that constitutional limit, excludes taxation of State property (s5), and depends on the Road Vehicle Standards Act for full commencement (s2)."},"complexity_factors":["Heavy reliance on delegated legislation: core details (what is charged, amounts, methods, exemptions) are left to regulations (s6–9).","Constitutional constraint: charges are limited to duties of customs, requiring legal alignment with s55 of the Constitution (s6(4)).","Interaction required with the Road Vehicle Standards Acts: charges must be connected to their administration, creating cross‑statutory dependencies (s6(1)).","Flexibility in prescribing amounts or calculation methods increases rule‑making permutations (s7).","Exemption power adds complexity for compliance and verification (s8).","Commencement contingent on companion Act increases implementation sequencing complexity (s2)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act allows regulations to impose charges, treated as taxes, connected to administering the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 and its consequential/transitional Act — but only insofar as those charges are duties of customs (s6(1)–(4)). Regulations may set fixed amounts or formulas and may create exemptions (s7–8).  \n\nThose liable under customs law (for example, importers) would pay these charges; the Governor‑General makes the regulations (s9). The real effects (who pays, compliance burden, administrative discretion) depend on how the regulations are drafted and on the constitutional limit to customs duties (s6(4))."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: providing constitutional authority to impose charges as customs duties in connection with road vehicle standards administration. It has not expanded beyond this narrow, technical function."},"complexity_factors":["Very short statute (only 9 sections)","Minimal defined terms (only one explicit definition in section 5(2), which references the Constitution)","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Heavy reliance on delegated legislation (regulations) to actually set the charges, meaning the substantive rules are not in the Act itself","Simple structure: preliminary matters, charging framework, miscellaneous","Single cross-reference to the Constitution (section 55) and the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates a framework for charging fees (treated as taxes) on activities related to Australia's road vehicle standards system, specifically when those fees qualify as customs duties.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Allows the government to create regulations that set charges for things connected to administering the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 (which governs how vehicles are approved and registered in Australia)\n- These charges are imposed as taxes, but only to the extent they count as \"duties of customs\" (taxes on goods imported into or exported from Australia)\n- The charges can be set as fixed amounts or calculated using a formula\n- The regulations can also create exemptions from these charges\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- People or businesses importing vehicles or vehicle parts into Australia\n- Anyone dealing with road vehicle standards administration where customs duties apply\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is one of three \"imposition\" acts that ensure the government can legally collect fees for vehicle standards administration. This specific version deals only with charges that are constitutionally classified as customs duties. It works alongside similar laws covering excise duties and general taxes, ensuring the government has proper constitutional authority to collect these fees regardless of how they're classified."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-customs-act-2018","history":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-customs-act-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-customs-act-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-customs-act-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-customs-act-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-customs-act-2018/documents"}}