18QPayment of levy

18Q Payment of levy

(1) For the purposes of assisting in defraying the costs of administering this Act, making improvements in cemetery trust governance and administration and the provision of services to the community, each Class A cemetery trust must pay an annual levy on its gross earnings as reported in the annual financial statements for that Class A cemetery trust for the previous financial year.

(2) The annual levy payable under subsection (1) is—

(a) 3 per cent; or

(b) if any other amount is fixed for the purposes of this section by the Minister by notice published in the Government Gazette, that amount.

(3) An amount fixed under subsection (2)(b) must not exceed 5 per cent.

(4) The Minister must give each Class A cemetery trust a written notice setting out—

(a) the amount it is required to pay as levy in respect of a specified period; and

(b) the date by which the amount is required to be paid; and

(c) how the payment is to be made.

(5) The Minister must ensure that all amounts paid as levy are paid into the Consolidated Fund.

(6) The Minister must cause the following information to be included in the annual report of operations for the Department of Health under Part 7 of the Financial Management Act 1994 for each financial year—

(a) the total amount paid as levy in that financial year;

(b) the total amount appropriated from the Consolidated Fund for the purposes of this Act for that financial year;

(c) a summary of the matters on which money appropriated from the Consolidated Fund for the purposes of this Act was expended in that financial year and of the amounts expended for those matters.

Part 3—Management of public cemeteries

Division 1—General management powers

19 Power to carry out works in public cemetery

In carrying out its functions under this Act, a cemetery trust may carry out or permit the carrying out of works in a public cemetery for which it is responsible.