Christmas Island Utilities and Services (Fees) Determination 2025

This instrument is a legislative determination made by the Administrator of the Territory of Christmas Island under section 7 of the Christmas Island Utilities and Services Ordinance 2016. It sets the specific dollar amounts payable for the use of airport facilities at Christmas Island Airport and for marine traffic and harbour facilities in the Port of Christmas Island. The instrument does not create new categories of fees or services; rather it fills in the dollar figures left blank by the Ordinance, which empowers the Administrator to determine fees by legislative instrument.

The instrument mechanically does three things. First, it establishes a fee schedule for five airport utilities or services: landing fees differentiated by time of day (daylight operations 7:01 am to 6 pm or night operations 6:01 pm to 7 am) and aircraft weight (MTOW of 20 tonnes or more, or less than 20 tonnes); parking fees triggered when an aircraft remains parked for six hours or more per day; a terminal fee of $5.00 per arriving or departing passenger; and a check in counter fee of $17.00 per departing aircraft operating a ticketed air service. Second, it sets six categories of marine traffic and harbour facility fees: a mooring fee for recreational vessels; a berth hire fee for non recreational vessels at $50 per hour; a port tonnage fee of $0.50 per GRT; a wharfage fee scaled by goods type (bagged phosphate and other bulker bag goods at $2.50 per tonne, fuel at $10 or $5 per kilolitre depending on whether it is bunker fuel, shipping containers at $10 per empty TEU or $70 per laden TEU, and other goods at $4 per tonne); a storage fee for inward or outward cargo remaining in the wharf area beyond ten days; and a freshwater supply fee of $9.00 per kilolitre. Third, the instrument creates two discretionary powers: the Administrator may waive airport facility fees on application where the waiver benefits the Christmas Island community, and the harbour master may extend the ten day free storage period for inward or outward cargo when specified operational or safety circumstances exist.

The instrument does not amend any earlier fee determination; it is a standalone replacement. It applies from the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation. All fees except the recreational vessel mooring fee must be paid by electronic funds transfer into an account nominated by the Administrator. The recreational mooring fee may be paid in cash. Payment is due within 30 days of the invoice date, with the Administrator or a delegate issuing the invoice. No fee is indexed to inflation or automatically adjusted; each fee amount is fixed in nominal dollars until the instrument is amended or replaced.

The instrument introduces or relies on several defined terms and operational concepts that determine liability and fee calculation. MTOW (maximum take off weight) is used to tier the landing and parking fees for aircraft, with a threshold of 20 tonnes. Aircraft with MTOW of 20 tonnes or more pay per tonne rates ($15 per tonne by day, $40 per tonne by night), while aircraft under 20 tonnes pay flat fees ($300 by day, $800 by night). This creates a volume discount for heavier aircraft in per tonne terms: a 100 tonne aircraft landing by day pays $1,500, not $15,000. GRT (gross registered tonne) is the metric for the port tonnage fee on non recreational vessels at $0.50 per GRT. TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit) is used for wharfage fees on shipping containers; an empty TEU costs $10 to move through the wharf area, a laden TEU costs $70, a ratio that strongly incentivises operators to consolidate cargo into fewer containers or to avoid landing empty containers.

Daylight operations (7:01 am to 6 pm) and night operations (6:01 pm to 7 am) create a significant price differential. Landing at night for a heavy aircraft costs 2.67 times the daylight rate per tonne; for a light aircraft the night rate is 2.67 times the flat fee. This differential is presumably designed to discourage night operations for noise, safety, or staffing reasons, but it also imposes a higher cost on any airline that must operate outside daylight hours due to scheduling or weather constraints. The definition of night operations covers six hours and fifty nine minutes from 6:01 pm to 7 am, while daylight covers ten hours and fifty nine minutes. The longer night window increases the likelihood that a flight will attract the higher rate.

Inward cargo and outward cargo are defined in terms of direction relative to a vessel: inward cargo has been unloaded from a vessel, outward cargo is intended to be loaded onto a vessel. The storage fee of $7.50 per tonne per day for containerised cargo after ten days applies to both inward and outward cargo. This means the free storage period is identical for import and export cargo, even though the logistics of each may differ. The wharf area is defined by reference to a 2002 Gazette notice under the Customs Act 1901, so the physical boundaries of the fee charging zone are not in the instrument itself but in a separate notice.

Bagged phosphate means phosphate in bulker bags, excluding bulk phosphate. This matters because the wharfage fee specifies bagged phosphate at $2.50 per tonne while any other goods not covered by the listed categories are charged at $4 per tonne. Bulk phosphate (not bagged) would fall under the catch all other goods at $4 per tonne. Since phosphate is a major export from Christmas Island, this differential directly affects the cost base of the phosphate mining operation.

The instrument directly affects three groups: aircraft operators, vessel operators, and cargo owners using the Port of Christmas Island or Christmas Island Airport. For aircraft operators, the relevant entity is the operator, owner, or hirer of the aircraft, who is jointly and severally liable for landing fees, parking fees, terminal fees, and check in counter fees. This includes commercial airlines operating scheduled services, charter operators, general aviation, and potentially government or defence aircraft if they use the airport. The fee schedule targets both passenger and cargo operations; the terminal fee applies per passenger, so passenger airlines bear that cost, while cargo operators without passengers avoid it but still pay landing and parking fees.

For vessel operators, the instrument distinguishes between recreational vessels and all other vessels. Recreational vessel owners or operators pay a flat weekly or daily mooring fee. Commercial vessels, including cargo ships, supply vessels, and phosphate carriers, face the hourly berth hire fee ($50 per hour), the port tonnage fee ($0.50 per GRT), wharfage fees based on goods moved, and storage fees if cargo remains in the wharf area beyond ten days. The costs are not trivial: a 10,000 GRT vessel staying for 24 hours would incur $500 in tonnage fee and $1,200 in berth hire, plus wharfage and storage for cargo.

Cargo owners are affected by wharfage fees and storage fees. The wharfage fee is imposed on the movement of goods through the wharf area, regardless of ownership. The owner or their shipping agent is the entity that must pay or arrange payment. For phosphate, the major export commodity, the cost is $2.50 per tonne if bagged, or $4 per tonne if not bagged, plus storage fees if the material is not cleared within ten days. For fuel imports, the wharfage fee is $10 per kilolitre for non bunker fuel and $5 per kilolitre for bunker fuel. Given that Christmas Island relies on imported fuel for energy and transport, this fee flows through to electricity prices, vehicle fuel costs, and the cost of goods shipped to the island.

The Administrator of the Territory is the key decision maker for waiving airport fees. The harbour master and deputy harbour master are the decision makers for varying the cargo storage period. The manager of Christmas Island Airport is an entity that can apply for a waiver. The Christmas Island community is affected both as consumers paying higher prices for goods that incorporate these fees, and as beneficiaries of any waiver that promotes air services.

The instrument imposes a clear duty to pay fees on the operator, owner, or hirer of the aircraft or vessel, or the owner of cargo. Payment must be made by electronic funds transfer into a nominated bank account within 30 days of the invoice date. The only exception is the recreational vessel mooring fee, which may be paid in cash. The Administrator or a delegate issues the invoice. There is no obligation on the Administrator to send a reminder or to accept late payment; the 30 day period runs from the invoice date, not the date of service. This places the onus on the payer to have systems in place to receive and process invoices promptly, particularly for vessels or aircraft that may be transient or operated from off island.

Rights in the instrument are primarily discretionary, not absolute. The right to seek a waiver of airport facility fees exists, but it is a right of application only. The Administrator may waive, not must. The applicant must provide a written application specifying the period requested and explaining how the waiver will benefit the Christmas Island community. The Administrator must consider three factors before deciding: whether the waiver will benefit the community; whether that benefit outweighs the revenue loss; and whether the waiver will have a detrimental impact on any contracted air services. These three criteria create a balancing test that favours revenue preservation and incumbent contracted services over new or experimental services. A waiver that benefits the community but threatens an existing contract might be refused. The Administrator must give written notice of any waiver and specify its period. There is no provision for appeal or review of a refusal to waive.

Similarly, the harbour master may vary the free storage period for inward or outward cargo on their own initiative or on application. The harbour master must consider a non exclusive list of circumstances: weather events causing unsafe conditions, equipment failures, vessel congestion, and any other exceptional circumstances in the interests of fairness or safety. For outward cargo, delayed arrival of the collecting vessel is also a relevant circumstance. The harbour master has broad discretion; the phrase any other exceptional circumstances gives flexibility but also creates uncertainty for cargo owners who cannot predict whether a particular delay will qualify. The harbour master or deputy must publish a written notice specifying the longer period and provide it to the cargo owner or shipping agent. There is no maximum extension specified, so in theory the period could be extended indefinitely.

The instrument does not create any right of set off, refund, or discount. Volume users, such as the phosphate operator or the regular fuel barge, receive no volume rebates. The fees are flat per unit rates regardless of usage frequency. There is no mechanism for challenging an invoice on the merits, other than seeking a discretionary waiver or extension from the same official who issued the invoice.

The instrument itself does not contain penalty provisions or enforcement mechanisms. It determines fees only. The legal consequences for non payment arise from the parent Ordinance, the Christmas Island Utilities and Services Ordinance 2016, which is not reproduced here. By inference, failure to pay a fee within 30 days would likely constitute a debt due to the Territory, recoverable in court. The instrument does not provide for late payment penalties, interest, or surcharges, though the Ordinance may permit them.

Enforcement powers are not specified in this determination. The Ordinance may empower the Administrator or harbour master to deny access to facilities for non payment, but the instrument does not state this. For airport facilities, the waiver provisions imply that the Administrator can refuse to supply services if fees are not paid, but that is an inference only. For marine facilities, the harbour master's power to vary storage periods does not extend to denying berth use. The instrument does not create offences. The only administrative sanctions are the potential refusal of discretionary relief (waivers or extensions) if a user has a history of non payment.

The definition of vessel references the Navigation Act 2012, which contains its own enforcement framework, but that is not engaged by this fee determination. Similarly, aircraft defined by reference to the Civil Aviation Act 1988 does not import civil aviation enforcement into the fee context.

Practically, enforcement relies on the limited number of users. Christmas Island Airport and the Port of Christmas Island are small, single point infrastructure with few operators. The Administrator can likely identify and pursue non payers through direct contact. The instrument requires payment by electronic funds transfer to a nominated account, which creates an audit trail. For recreational vessels, cash payment for the mooring fee reduces traceability but the small amounts may not justify enforcement action.

The instrument does not create a mechanism for dispute resolution, internal review, or merits review by the Australian Administrative Review Tribunal. A person aggrieved by a fee determination or a refusal to waive would need to rely on general administrative law remedies such as judicial review or a civil claim. The Administrator's discretion is broad but must be exercised properly; a refusal to waive on irrelevant grounds could be challenged.

The instrument is made under the Christmas Island Utilities and Services Ordinance 2016, which itself is a territory ordinance made under the Christmas Island Act 1958. The Christmas Island Act 1958 is the Commonwealth Act that provides the constitutional foundation for the Territory. The Ordinance and this determination sit within a unique legal framework: Christmas Island is a non self governing territory, and Western Australian laws apply in modified form as Commonwealth applied laws. This is reflected in the definitions that reference Western Australian legislation extended to Christmas Island.

The definition of vessel adopts the meaning from section 14 of the Navigation Act 2012, a Commonwealth Act that regulates shipping and seafarer safety. This means vessel is defined at Commonwealth level, not by Western Australian law. Aircraft is defined by reference to section 3 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988, another Commonwealth Act. Harbour master and deputy harbour master are defined by reference to Western Australias Shipping and Pilotage Act 1967 (WA)(CI), which is applied to Christmas Island by a Commonwealth applied law arrangement. The interpretation of function in Part 3 uses the Interpretation Act 1984 (WA)(CI), which is the Western Australian interpretation Act as applied to Christmas Island. This patchwork of Commonwealth and applied state law means a reader must navigate multiple jurisdictions to understand a single instrument.

The wharf area is defined by a Gazette notice under the Customs Act 1901. That notice from 2002 defines the boundaries of the area where wharfage fees apply. The Customs Act also imposes its own controls on goods in wharf areas, including quarantine, biosecurity, and customs clearance obligations. A cargo owner may face overlapping time pressures: the Customs Act allows goods to remain in a wharf area for a limited period before requiring removal or placement in a customs warehouse, and this instrument adds a ten day free storage period after which a daily storage fee applies. The Customs storage time limit and the fee free period may not align, potentially creating a situation where goods must be removed for customs reasons before the storage fee kicks in, or where goods cannot be removed due to customs delays but storage fees still accrue.

The definition of Port of Christmas Island references section 10 of the Shipping and Pilotage Act 1967 (WA)(CI). That Act also regulates pilotage, navigation, and port operations. The fee for marine traffic facilities under this instrument may interact with pilotage fees set under the Western Australian Act, though those are separate.

This instrument is the Christmas Island Utilities and Services (Fees) Determination 2025, made on 16 December 2025 by the Administrator. It is a new instrument, not an amending instrument. There is no amendment history because it has not been amended. The instrument will be registered on the Federal Register of Legislation and will commence the day after registration. No sunsetting or review date is specified. Under the Legislation Act 2003, legislative instruments are usually subject to automatic repeal after ten years unless exempt. This instrument does not contain an exemption, so it will likely sunset in 2035 unless re made.

The instrument does not revoke any earlier determination or list any predecessor instruments repealed or amended. The Ordinance section 7(2)(a) confers power to determine fees by legislative instrument; prior determinations may have existed but are not referenced here. The practitioner must check the Federal Register of Legislation for any earlier determinations that this instrument implicitly supersedes.

The table in section 2 states that the whole of the instrument commences the day after registration. There is no staged commencement or transitional provision. Fees apply from that date for all services supplied on or after commencement, regardless of when bookings or arrangements were made. There is no transitional relief for operators who had already scheduled services or voyages before the instrument was made.

There is no litigation history recorded in the instrument. The instrument itself is only days old, and it is a fee determination rather than a regulation of conduct, so litigation is improbable unless a user challenges a fee as ultra vires the Ordinance. The Ordinance is not reproduced, so the scope of the power to determine fees cannot be assessed from this instrument alone. A challenge could arise if a fee is alleged to not be for a utility or service within the meaning of the Ordinance, or if the fee is said to be so high as to be a tax rather than a fee for service. The High Court has considered fees versus taxes in cases such as Airservices Australia v Canadian Airlines International, but that case is not cited in the instrument and I cannot rely on it.

Disputes about waiver refusals or storage period determinations are more likely. The broad discretion and lack of review mechanism may lead to applications for judicial review on grounds of failing to consider relevant factors or taking into account irrelevant considerations. A refusal to waive airport fees where the community benefit is obvious could be challenged. Similarly, a harbour masters decision to extend or not extend the cargo storage period could be challenged if the reasons are inadequate.

Given the small scale of Christmas Island operations, litigation is unlikely unless a major operator such as the phosphate mine or the weekly air service provider faces significant cost increases. The operator would need to weigh the cost of Federal Court proceedings against the amount of fees in dispute.

Several design features of this instrument create traps for unwary users. First, the ten day free storage period for inward and outward cargo runs from the date of unloading or the date the cargo enters the wharf area, not from the invoice date or the date of notification. A cargo owner who does not track the exact arrival date may miss the free period and incur daily storage fees. The storage fee of $7.50 per tonne per day for containerised cargo is not a trivial disincentive. For a 20 tonne container of bagged phosphate, the storage fee after ten days is $150 per day. The harbour master may extend the period, but only if the cargo owner applies or the harbour master acts on their own initiative. Passive delay by the cargo owner is not a relevant consideration. The harbour master must consider weather, equipment failure, vessel congestion, or exceptional circumstances. Commercial delays such as slow customs clearance, payment disputes, or waiting for trucking availability would not appear to qualify unless they can be characterised as exceptional. The catch all exceptional circumstances is vague; a cargo owner should not assume an extension will be granted.

Second, the waiver of airport fees applies only to passenger air services. Cargo only flights and general aviation cannot apply for a waiver. The Administrator cannot waive fees for a freight operator even if the freight service benefits the community. The instrument does not define passenger air service, so a flight carrying both passengers and cargo may or may not qualify. The waiver period must be specified in the application; there is no provision for indefinite or standing waivers.

Third, the parking fee for aircraft is triggered when the aircraft is parked for six hours or more per day. The fee is per day, not per hour over six. So parking for six hours or for 24 hours incurs the same daily charge. This creates a cliff edge at six hours. An airline that parks for five hours and 59 minutes pays nothing; one that parks for six hours pays the full daily fee. The fee applies per day, meaning an aircraft parked overnight for three consecutive days would pay three daily charges. The daily rate for heavy aircraft is $1.00 per tonne, so a 100 tonne aircraft pays $100 per day. This is modest compared to the landing fee, but it accumulates.

Fourth, the wharfage fee for shipping containers charges $70 per laden TEU and $10 per empty TEU. An operator moving a laden 40 foot container (2 TEU) pays $140. An empty 40 foot container costs $20. This encourages backloading empty containers rather than leaving them on the island. However, the definition of TEU is not further defined; if a 20 foot container is the base unit, then a 40 foot container counts as 2 TEU, but the instrument does not state this. The practitioner must assume the standard shipping industry definition applies.

Compliance requires a systematic approach to tracking usage, receiving invoices accurately, and making timely payment. For each use of Christmas Island Airport or the Port of Christmas Island, the operator should record the date, time, and relevant metrics: for aircraft, the exact landing time to determine daylight or night operations and the certified MTOW; for vessels, the GRT, time of berthing or mooring, and the type and quantity of goods handled. These records should be retained for at least seven years, as general tax and record keeping requirements may apply even though the instrument does not mandate specific retention periods.

The operator should ensure that contact details for receiving invoices are current with the Administrator or the port authority. The 30 day payment period runs from the invoice date, not the date the invoice is received. If the invoice is lost or sent to an old address, the operator may still be in default by day 31. The instrument does not provide for electronic service of invoices, but it permits the Administrator or a delegate to issue an invoice; operator should request invoices by email and confirm receipt.

For aircraft operators seeking a waiver of airport fees, the application must be in writing, specify the period, and explain how the waiver benefits the Christmas Island community. The application should be made well before the service is provided, because the Administrator must consider three factors: community benefit, revenue loss outweighing benefit, and impact on contracted air services. The operator should provide evidence of community benefit, such as lower prices for residents, increased tourism, or freight capacity for essential goods. The operator should also be prepared to demonstrate that the waiver does not harm existing contracted services. If the waiver is for a new service, the operator may need to show it complements rather than competes with the contracted service.

For cargo owners or shipping agents facing potential storage fees, the harbour masters extension power should be invoked early. If circumstances such as weather or equipment failure are likely to delay cargo removal, a written application for a longer storage period should be made before the ten day free period expires. The application should specify the circumstances from the list in sections 8 or 9 and provide evidence (weather reports, equipment breakdown notices, vessel schedules). The harbour master must publish a notice of the longer period and provide it to the owner or agent. The owner should request a copy of that notice for their records.

Payment of all fees must be by electronic funds transfer to the nominated account. The only exception is the recreational vessel mooring fee, which may be paid in cash. The operator should request the bank account details in advance and test the transfer before the first payment is due. The instrument does not specify how to verify that the payment has been received; the operator should retain bank transaction receipts and reconcile them against invoices.