{"id":"C2012A00161","name":"Superannuation Auditor Registration Imposition Act 2012","slug":"superannuation-auditor-registration-imposition-act-2012","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"161 of 2012","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":8465,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2012A00161-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Superannuation Auditor Registration Imposition Act 2012.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on 31 January 2013.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Imposition of fees","content":"#### 3 Imposition of fees\n\n  Fees payable in accordance with section 128L of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 are imposed.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Amount of fees","content":"#### 4 Amount of fees\n\n  (1) The amounts of those fees are prescribed by the regulations.\n  (2) The regulations may prescribe such a fee:\n    (a) by prescribing an amount (not exceeding $3,000) as the fee; or\n    (b) by prescribing a method for calculating the amount (not exceeding $3,000) of the fee.\n  (3) The regulations may prescribe different amounts for different kinds of matters mentioned in an item in column 1 of the table in subsection 128L(1) of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Regulations","content":"#### 5 Regulations\n\n  The Governor‑General may make regulations for the purposes of section 4.","sortOrder":4}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act is narrow and technical in purpose — it does exactly what its title suggests: imposes registration fees for superannuation auditors. There is no evidence of scope creep or departure from its original intent. It functions solely as the constitutional vehicle to authorise fee collection already contemplated under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993."},"complexity_factors":["Very short Act with only 5 sections — minimal substantive content","Relies heavily on a separate piece of legislation (Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, section 128L) to define what is actually being charged for — readers must cross-reference another Act to fully understand context","Actual fee amounts are delegated to regulations rather than set in the Act itself, adding a layer of indirection","Constitutional purpose (fee imposition requirement) is not explained in the Act itself, which may confuse lay readers as to why this Act exists at all"],"plain_english_summary":"## Superannuation Auditor Registration Imposition Act 2012\n\nThis short Act establishes the legal authority to charge **fees to people who register as superannuation fund auditors**.\n\n### Who is affected?\nProfessional auditors who want to be registered (officially approved) to audit superannuation (super) funds. These are specialist accountants who check that super funds are being run properly and legally.\n\n### What does it do?\n- **Authorises fees** to be charged when auditors apply for or maintain their registration under a related law (the *Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993*).\n- **Caps those fees** at a maximum of **$3,000** per matter.\n- Allows the government (via regulations — rules made by the Governor-General) to set the exact fee amounts or the formula for calculating them.\n- Different fee amounts can be set for different types of registration matters (e.g., a new application might cost a different amount than a renewal).\n\n### Why does it exist?\nUnder Australia's constitutional rules, fees that are effectively a form of taxation must be 'imposed' (formally created) by a specific Act of Parliament. This Act does exactly that — it gives the fee-charging power proper legal standing. The actual dollar amounts are set separately in regulations, which are easier to update than legislation.\n\n### Practical impact\nIf you are a registered superannuation auditor or plan to become one, **you will pay a registration fee of up to $3,000**, with the exact amount set by government regulations."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"impossible_compliance","section":"4(2)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 4(2)(b) allows fees to be set by a prescribed calculation method, subject to a ceiling of $3,000. However, a calculation method is a formula or process, not a fixed output. The Act places the cap on the 'amount' resulting from the method, but provides no mechanism to enforce or verify that the method will always produce a result at or below $3,000 across all possible inputs. The regulations could prescribe a method that produces varying results depending on circumstances, and there is no legislative backstop if the method yields an amount exceeding $3,000 in a given case. The Act assumes the cap is self-enforcing when applied to a method, which it is not.","confidence":0.72,"description":"The $3,000 cap applies identically to both a prescribed flat amount AND a calculated amount, but a calculation method cannot inherently guarantee it will never exceed $3,000 unless the calculation itself is constrained — the Act does not specify how compliance with the cap is enforced when a method rather than a fixed amount is used."},{"type":"circular_definition","section":"3","severity":"low","reasoning":"The Act's operative provision (s3) declares fees 'are imposed', but s4(1) makes the amounts wholly dependent on regulations yet to be made. The imposition is therefore a legal shell with no substantive content until the Executive acts. While this is a common legislative technique, the present-tense declaration in s3 ('are imposed') is logically premature if no amount exists yet, since a fee of indeterminate amount is arguably not yet a fee capable of being 'imposed'.","confidence":0.55,"description":"Section 3 imposes fees 'payable in accordance with section 128L' of the SIS Act, but the imposition Act itself does not set any fee — it delegates that entirely to regulations under section 5. Until regulations are made, there is nothing imposed in practice, rendering the imposition potentially nominal and circular."},{"type":"other","section":"4(3)","severity":"low","reasoning":"The power to prescribe different fees for different 'kinds of matters' within a single table item is unconstrained by any principle or criterion in the Act. This gives the Executive broad discretion to sub-categorise matters in ways Parliament has not contemplated or scrutinised, potentially undermining the legislative intent of a uniform fee structure while staying technically within the Act's terms.","confidence":0.5,"description":"Section 4(3) allows different fee amounts for 'different kinds of matters mentioned in an item in column 1 of the table in subsection 128L(1)', but the Act provides no guidance on what distinguishes different 'kinds' within a single item, creating an open-ended and potentially arbitrary differentiation power."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"3","section_b":"4(1)","confidence":0.65,"description":"Section 3 declares that fees 'are imposed' as a present fact, while section 4(1) makes the amount of those fees entirely dependent on future regulations that may or may not be made. A fee with no ascertainable amount cannot meaningfully be said to be 'imposed' at the time of enactment."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"4(2)(a)","section_b":"4(2)(b)","confidence":0.6,"description":"Section 4(2)(a) allows a flat prescribed amount not exceeding $3,000, while 4(2)(b) allows a calculation method producing an amount not exceeding $3,000. These two mechanisms can coexist in regulations simultaneously, potentially producing two different fee amounts for the same matter depending on which regulation applies, with no hierarchy or conflict-resolution rule provided."}]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation maintains its original narrow purpose. It was always intended as a simple fee-imposition mechanism to support the superannuation auditor registration scheme introduced in 2012, and it remains tightly focused on that single function without expansion into broader regulatory matters."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 5 sections spanning approximately 250 words","No defined terms section; relies entirely on definitions in the parent Act (Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993)","Simple conditional logic: only one substantive condition (the $3,000 cap)","Single cross-reference to section 128L of another Act","No exceptions, exemptions, or nested provisions","Standard regulation-making power with minimal constraints"],"plain_english_summary":"This law sets up a system for charging fees to people who want to register as auditors of superannuation funds (super funds). \n\n**What it does:**\n- **Authorises fees** for superannuation auditor registration, renewal, and related matters under the main superannuation law (the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993)\n- **Caps the fees** at $3,000 maximum per fee\n- **Lets the government set the exact amounts** through regulations (secondary laws made by the executive government) rather than specifying dollar amounts in the Act itself\n- **Allows different fees** for different types of registration matters (for example, initial registration might cost a different amount than renewing registration)\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- People and firms wanting to become registered superannuation auditors\n- Existing auditors who need to renew their registration or change their registration details\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis is a \"money bill\" that makes the fee system legally valid. Without this law, the government couldn't legally charge these fees. It ensures that superannuation auditors—who play a crucial role in checking that super funds are managed properly and comply with the law—contribute to the cost of regulating their profession."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/superannuation-auditor-registration-imposition-act-2012","history":"/api/acts/superannuation-auditor-registration-imposition-act-2012/history","analysis":"/api/acts/superannuation-auditor-registration-imposition-act-2012/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/superannuation-auditor-registration-imposition-act-2012/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/superannuation-auditor-registration-imposition-act-2012/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/superannuation-auditor-registration-imposition-act-2012/documents"}}