{"id":"C2018A00167","name":"Road Vehicle Standards Charges (Imposition—General) Act 2018","slug":"road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-general-act-2018","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"167 of 2018","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436304,"registerId":"C2018A00167-fast-fetch-1775953543880","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Road Vehicle Standards Charges (Imposition—General) 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—General) Act 2018\n\n \n\nNo. 167, 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 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 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—General) Act 2018\n\nNo. 167, 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 neither duties of customs nor duties of excise, 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—General) 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 neither a duty of customs nor a duty of excise 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(13/18)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is an enabling instrument narrowly drafted to allow the executive to impose charges by regulation to support administration of the Road Vehicle Standards regime. It does not materially expand beyond that original purpose: it delegates taxing detail to regulations, preserves constitutional limits (no customs/excise or taxation of State property), and ties commencement to the principal Road Vehicle Standards Act. In short, the text remains within its original, narrowly enabling scope rather than growing into unrelated areas."},"complexity_factors":["Short Act: 9 sections (including preliminaries) — limited textual length","Heavy delegation to regulations (s6, s7, s8, s9) — operational detail absent from primary text","Cross‑references to other instruments: Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 and its Consequential and Transitional Act (s6), affecting scope","Constitutional cross‑references: excludes customs/excise duties (s6(4)) and preserves s114-type State property protection (s5), requiring constitutional awareness","Conditional commencement tied to another Act (s2) — sequencing dependency","Flexible charging design: permits multiple charges for same matter and single charge across multiple matters (s6(3)) and allows fixed amounts or formulae (s7) — potential for layered complexity in regulations","Extraterritorial application (s4) — raises cross‑border compliance and enforcement considerations","No defined list of payers or specific charges in the Act — regulatory uncertainty for stakeholders until regulations issued"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates a power for regulations to impose charges—expressly treated as taxes—connected to administering the Road Vehicle Standards regime. It delegates to the executive the detail of who pays, amounts, methods and exemptions, so importers, manufacturers and others covered by the principal Act will bear any costs set later. It matters because it shifts substantive pricing and compliance design from Parliament to regulation, affecting commercial costs, incentives and administrative discretion."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose as a charging mechanism for the Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018. Its skeletal nature is intentional — it was designed as a framework statute that delegates substantive fee-setting to regulations. There is no evidence of scope creep; the law does exactly what its long title describes and no more."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short statute — only 9 sections across 3 Parts","Minimal defined terms — only one explicit definition (section 5(2) referencing the Constitution)","Heavy reliance on delegated legislation — sections 6, 7, 8 and 9 essentially hand all substantive content to regulations yet to be made","Single cross-reference to external legislation (Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018) for commencement timing and extraterritorial scope","Simple conditional logic limited to constitutional safeguards (section 6(4) excluding customs/excise duties, section 5 protecting state property)","No nested exceptions or complex procedural requirements"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates a framework for the federal government to charge fees (treated as taxes) for services related to regulating road vehicles in Australia. It works alongside two other laws from 2018 that set up the national standards for road vehicles.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Authorises charges**: Allows the government to create regulations that set fees for activities connected to administering Australia's road vehicle standards system.\n- **Defines the charges as taxes**: Makes clear these fees are legally classified as taxes, which matters for constitutional reasons.\n- **Sets boundaries**: The charges cannot be customs duties (taxes on imports) or excise duties (taxes on locally manufactured goods) — these require different constitutional treatment.\n- **Covers overseas activities**: The law applies to acts and matters outside Australia, recognising that vehicle regulation often involves international manufacturers and importers.\n- **Protects state property**: Ensures the charges don't apply to property owned by state governments, respecting constitutional limits on federal taxing power.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Vehicle manufacturers, importers, and distributors who need to comply with Australian road vehicle standards\n- Businesses seeking approvals, certifications, or registrations under the road vehicle standards system\n- State governments (explicitly protected from certain charges)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is essentially the \"money collection\" companion to the main Road Vehicle Standards Act. Without it, the government couldn't legally charge fees for processing vehicle approvals, inspections, or other regulatory services. The law is deliberately broad and skeletal — most details about specific fees and exemptions are left to regulations, allowing flexibility to adjust charges without needing new parliamentary legislation each time."},"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"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-general-act-2018","history":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-general-act-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-general-act-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-general-act-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-general-act-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/road-vehicle-standards-charges-imposition-general-act-2018/documents"}}