{"id":"F2019L00321","name":"Telecommunications (Immediate Circle — Specified Joint Ventures and Contractors) Determination 2019","slug":"telecommunications-immediate-circle-specified-joint-ventures-and-contractors-determination-2019","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439987,"registerId":"F2019L00321-fast-fetch-1775955794686","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Telecommunications (Immediate Circle — Specified Joint Ventures and Contractors) Determination 2019","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.jpeg)\n\n \n\nTelecommunications (Immediate Circle — Specified Joint Ventures and Contractors) Determination 2019\n\nI, MITCH FIFIELD, Minister for Communications and the Arts, make the following determination.\n\nDated 12 March 2019   \n\nMitch Fifield\n\nMinister for Communications and the Arts\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\n5  Schedules\n\n6  Immediate circle\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nDetermination under subsection 23(2), No. 1 of 1998\n\n \n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Telecommunications (Immediate Circle — Specified Joint Ventures and Contractors) Determination 2019.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences on the day after it is registered.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under subsection 23(2) of the Telecommunications Act 1997.\n\n4  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in section 7 of the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) carriage service;\n\n(b) content service;\n\n(c) immediate circle.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Telecommunications Act 1997.\n\nspecified contractor means a contractor engaged under a contract to a person where the following activities are not the subject of the contract and are no more than incidental to the contract:\n\n(a) the supply of carriage services; and\n\n(b) the supply of a content service using a carriage service.\n\nspecified joint venture means an association of two or more persons, who agree by contract to engage in a common undertaking for profit or product by combining their respective resources, where the following activities are not the common undertaking, and are no more than incidental to the common undertaking:\n\n(a) the supply of carriage services; and\n\n(b) the supply of a content service using a carriage service.\n\n5  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n6  Immediate circle\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph 23(1)(n) of the Act, a person’s immediate circle includes the following persons:\n\n (a) if the person is engaged in a specified joint venture with another person –\n\n (i) that other person; and\n\n (ii) any other person who, because of section 23 of the Act or this determination, is part of that other person’s immediate circle;\n\n  where each person mentioned in subparagraph (i) or (ii) (as the case may be) is being supplied with carriage services for purposes of, or incidental to, the activities of the specified joint venture; and \n\n (b) if the person has engaged another person as a specified contractor –\n\n (i) that other person; and\n\n (ii) any person who, because of section 23 of the Act or this determination, is part of that other person’s immediate circle;\n\n  where each person mentioned in subparagraph (i) or (ii) (as the case may be) is being supplied with carriage services for purposes of, or incidental to, work covered by the contract between the person and the specified contractor.\n\n\n\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nDetermination under subsection 23(2), No. 1 of 1998\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument\n\n \n\n \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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow purpose: specifying who falls within the 'immediate circle' exemption for carrier licensing. It updates the mechanism from a 1998 determination to a 2019 determination with modernised language, but does not expand beyond the original scope of defining immediate circle membership for joint ventures and contractors."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument (approximately 2 pages of substantive content)","Only 2 defined terms ('specified contractor' and 'specified joint venture'), plus reference to Act definitions","Single operative provision (section 6) with two parallel limbs (joint ventures and contractors)","Nested cross-references to section 23 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 and back to the determination itself for recursive immediate circle membership","Conditional logic requiring that telecom activities be 'not the subject of' and 'no more than incidental to' the contract/joint venture","Repeal of a single previous instrument (1998 Determination) in Schedule 1"],"plain_english_summary":"This Determination broadens who counts in a telecoms provider’s \"immediate circle,\" allowing certain joint venture partners and specified contractors (and their own immediate circles) to receive incidental phone and internet services without triggering carrier‑licence rules.  \n\nIt reduces compliance costs for businesses using contractors or forming JVs where telecommunications are a side activity, replacing an older 1998 rule with clearer, updated coverage."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument replaces an earlier determination (Schedule 1 repeals the prior instrument) and expressly expands the statutory concept of “immediate circle” to include specified joint venture partners and specified contractors, and their immediate circles, where those persons are supplied carriage services for purposes of, or incidental to, the joint venture’s activities or the contract work (see Definitions and section 6)."},"complexity_factors":["Relies on cross-references to the Telecommunications Act 1997 (notably section 7 definitions and paragraph 23(1)(n)), requiring readers to consult the Act to understand full effect (sections 3–4, 6).","Introduces recursive inclusion: a joint‑venture partner’s or contractor’s own immediate circle is pulled in (section 6(a)(ii) and 6(b)(ii)), which creates chains of relationships to trace.","Key terms hinge on the phrase “no more than incidental” for what activities fall outside a specified joint venture/contractor — a fact‑specific standard that can be uncertain in application (definitions of specified contractor and specified joint venture).","Operates conditionally on the supply of carriage services “for purposes of, or incidental to” the JV or contract, so practical application requires evidence about the purpose of supplied services (section 6).","Repeals an earlier instrument in full (Schedule 1), so comparison with prior scope requires checking the repealed instrument.","Mechanically narrow instrument (definitions and scope only) but with regulatory consequences that depend on other statutory provisions, increasing interpretive complexity for affected parties."],"plain_english_summary":"This 2019 determination changes who counts as a person’s “immediate circle” under the Telecommunications Act 1997 by treating partners in certain joint ventures and contractors (and their immediate circles) as within that circle when they are supplied carriage services for the venture’s activities or for contracted work. It affects businesses, contractors and carriers that provide carriage or content services and matters because being in someone’s immediate circle changes how section 23 of the Act applies to relationships and permissions."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/telecommunications-immediate-circle-specified-joint-ventures-and-contractors-determination-2019","history":"/api/acts/telecommunications-immediate-circle-specified-joint-ventures-and-contractors-determination-2019/history","analysis":"/api/acts/telecommunications-immediate-circle-specified-joint-ventures-and-contractors-determination-2019/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/telecommunications-immediate-circle-specified-joint-ventures-and-contractors-determination-2019/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/telecommunications-immediate-circle-specified-joint-ventures-and-contractors-determination-2019/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/telecommunications-immediate-circle-specified-joint-ventures-and-contractors-determination-2019/documents"}}