Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Registration Fees) Regulations 1990

The instrument relies on and implements three core statutory concepts.

• Prescribed amount: The Regulations define the monetary figure that the phrase "the prescribed amount", as used in the parent Act's section 4, will mean for particular subsections. Regulation 3 maps the term "the prescribed amount" to explicit dollar amounts for section 4(2), 4(3), 4(4), 4(6) and 4(7) respectively (reg 3(1)-(5)). The Regulations do not define "prescribed amount" beyond attaching those numbers to the cited subsections.

• Delegated specification: These Regulations are an exercise of an enabling power in the parent Act. They do not create liability in themselves; rather, they supply amounts that the Act's charging provisions will use. Each prescribed amount is expressly tied to a subsection of s 4 of the Act by the wording "For the purposes of section 4(x) of the Act, the prescribed amount is an amount of $...". That construction indicates the Regulations are subordinate, functional detail: they answer "how much?" where the Act asks for a prescribed sum.

• Temporal and amendment mechanics: The instrument contains a commencement provision (reg 2) which makes these Regulations come into operation only on the commencement of the Petroleum (Registration Fees) Amendment Act 1990. In addition, the compilation table and the notes appended to regulation 3 record a history of amendments to the prescribed amounts by numerous statutory instruments from 2002 through 2023. These entries show that the amounts have been varied repeatedly and that the instrument is administered through periodic amendment rather than by an automatic indexing formula in the text of these Regulations.

The Regulations are narrow and technical. They do not specify who pays, when payments fall due, how payments must be made, or what happens for late non-payment. Those matters,liability triggers, deadlines, recipients, enforcement, and any exemptions,are matters for the Act itself or other legislative or administrative instruments. The main conceptual purpose of the Regulations therefore is administrative: to ensure that s 4 of the Act has concrete dollar figures to operate with, changed over time by secondary instruments as necessary.

The Regulations affect parties whose obligations or entitlements under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Registration Fees) Act 1967 depend on "the prescribed amount" as used in sections 4(2), 4(3), 4(4), 4(6) and 4(7) of the Act. The Regulations do not list those parties by name; they only specify the dollar figures that apply when those particular subsections of section 4 are engaged. Concretely, the following effects flow from the text supplied.

• Persons dealing with section 4 of the Act: Anyone whose legal obligations under the Act arise through an event, instrument or application described in s 4(2), s 4(3), s 4(4), s 4(6) or s 4(7) will have their fee exposure measured by the prescribed amounts in reg 3. The Regulations do not themselves identify what types of applications or registrations those subsections capture; to identify particular classes of affected persons you must read s 4 of the Act in conjunction with these Regulations.

• Administrative bodies and payees: The agencies or officers who collect registration fees under the Act will apply the dollar figures in reg 3 when determining the amount payable for matters caught by the cited subsections. The Regulations supply the numerals that these administrators will record and require.

• Legal advisers and compliance officers: Counsel, solicitors, in‑house counsel, accountants and compliance teams must use the exact figures in reg 3 when advising clients or designing compliance checklists that depend on the statutory phrase "the prescribed amount" in the listed subsections of s 4.

• Market participants in petroleum and geothermal sectors: Operators, titleholders, applicants and potential entrants whose costs of licensing, registration or other transactions under the Act are quantified by s 4 will find those dollar sums relevant to commercial decision-making. Because the Regulations only supply the amounts (not timing or procedural detail), affected parties must reconcile reg 3 with section 4 and any transactional steps required by the parent Act.

The Regulations do not create new categories of affected persons; they only change the quantum of fees. They are silent on exemptions, thresholds, payment methods, instalments or refunds. Those operational and substantive incidence points remain located in the Act or elsewhere. The compilation table and amendment clauses indicate that the set of affected persons has been subject to changing monetary exposure over time through repeated amendments to reg 3, so the present dollar figures reflect the latest amending instrument recorded in the supplied materials (see compilation table entries and the list of amendments appended to reg 3).

What the Regulations impose and what they grant are narrow and numerical.

• Duty to pay a specified sum: Where section 4(2), 4(3), 4(4), 4(6) or 4(7) of the Act requires payment of "the prescribed amount", regulation 3 fixes that amount at the specific dollar figure listed. Thus, the practical duty created by these Regulations is that the monetary sum payable under those subsections will be $6,010.00 for s 4(2), s 4(3) and s 4(6); $9,550.00 for s 4(4); and $9,597.00 for s 4(7) (reg 3(1)-(5)). The Regulations themselves do not prescribe how or when payment must be made; they only determine the quantum.

• Right to certainty about the quantum: The Regulations provide statutory certainty about the exact dollar figure that is to be treated as "the prescribed amount" in the listed subsections. This reduces ambiguity over the numeric element of any fee charged under the cited parts of s 4.

• No procedural or substantive rights added: The instrument does not grant rights such as refund entitlements, appeals against fee assessments, waivers, or deferrals. It does not contain administrative or review mechanisms. Any such rights must be sought in the parent Act or elsewhere.

• No penalties or enforcement clauses within the Regulations: The Regulations contain no provisions creating offences, late‑payment penalties, interest regimes, or enforcement steps. Therefore, duties to pay and the consequences of non‑payment must be derived from the Act itself (the parent legislation) rather than this instrument (reg 3 contains only numerical prescriptions).

• Citation and commencement effects: Regulation 1 establishes the short title, which is relevant to how the instrument is cited and therefore to the legal duty of users to apply the correct instrument (reg 1). Regulation 2 controls when the Regulations take effect, tying their operation to the commencement of the Petroleum (Registration Fees) Amendment Act 1990; this affects when the duties to apply the prescribed amounts begin to bind administrators and payers (reg 2).

In short, the Regulations specify the monetary element of certain statutory fees but leave procedural, temporal and enforcement aspects to be administered under the parent Act or under administrative practice. Those seeking to comply must pair the numerical prescription in reg 3 with the operative triggers and mechanisms in section 4 of the Act and any ancillary administrative rules.

The Regulations as supplied do not create penalties, enforcement mechanisms, or administrative collection procedures. The instrument contains three regulations: the short title (reg 1), the commencement provision (reg 2) and the schedule of prescribed amounts (reg 3). None of those provisions addresses enforcement, penalty amounts, interest on late payment, or administrative recovery processes. Therefore, from the text provided:

• No penalty clauses are included: There is no provision in these Regulations that imposes a sanction for failing to pay the prescribed amount, nor any regulatory offence created by non‑payment within the Regulation text itself.

• Enforcement resides in the parent Act or other laws: Because these Regulations merely specify the prescribed amounts that are to be used under particular subsections of section 4 of the Act, any penalties for non‑payment, interest, collection powers, or dispute resolution mechanisms must be located in the Act or other instruments that the Act authorises. The Regulations are silent on those matters and so they do not alter enforcement rights or penalties except insofar as changing the quantum of the fee may affect the economic scale of any enforcement action that follows from the Act’s provisions.

• Administrative practice will govern collection mechanics: The Regulations do not specify who receives payments, acceptable payment methods, payment due dates, or forms to be used. Agencies administering the Act will need to rely on the Act, departmental regulations or internal procedures to implement fee collection. The compilation table shows multiple amendments over time (see the list of amending instruments), which suggests administration keeps the figures updated by secondary instruments rather than through procedural change inside these Regulations.

• Practical implication: For an entity facing a demand for "the prescribed amount" under the cited parts of section 4, the obligation to pay the numerical figure in reg 3 will stand, but the legal consequences of non‑payment (including any penalty or enforcement steps) must be examined in the Act itself or any enforcement provisions delegated by the Act.

Because penalties and enforcement are material to risk assessments, practitioners should consult the parent Act's relevant parts that govern fee liability and recovery, and examine any departmental practice notes or regulations that document collection and enforcement procedures. The Regulations supplied are not a primary source for enforcement law.

The Regulations operate as subordinate instruments linked directly to the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Registration Fees) Act 1967 by supplying "the prescribed amount" for specified subsections of section 4. The text also records a chain of amending instruments and cross‑references that show how the Regulations interlock with other secondary legislation over time.

• Direct statutory dependency on the Act: Each limb of regulation 3 expressly states that a particular numeric figure is "for the purposes of section 4(x) of the Act". That language creates a binding interaction: the Act uses a legislated phrase ("the prescribed amount") which these Regulations define numerically for the listed subsections. Thus, the Regulations do not operate independently; their legal effect is realised only when section 4 of the Act is invoked.

• Temporal interplay via commencement: Regulation 2 ties these Regulations' operation to the commencement of a named amending Act (the Petroleum (Registration Fees) Amendment Act 1990). That cross‑instrument linkage means that the Regulations' effective date is not stated in the Regulations themselves but is contingent on another Act's commencement. The compilation table records the initial commencement dates and shows later amendments with their own commencements (see compilation table entries).

• Amendments by related instruments recorded in compilation table: The compilation table lists numerous amending instruments by name and date, many of which are titled "Mines and Petroleum Regulations Amendment (Fees and Levies) Regulations" or similar, with parts identified (for example, Pt. 12 in 2016, Pt. 13 in 2017 and 2018, Pt. 12 in 2019, Pt. 6 in 2020, Pt. 10 in 2021 and Pt. 9 in 2023). Those instruments amended the prescribed amounts in these Regulations (the note appended to reg 3 records a long list of amendment dates). This demonstrates an administrative architecture where fee levels are adjusted from time to time by secondary instruments, often consolidated into broader "Mines and Petroleum" amendment instruments.

• Citation and name changes affecting cross‑references: The historical note "Now known as the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Registration Fees) Regulations 1990; citation changed (see note under r. 1)" indicates a change in how the Regulations may be cited, which may affect how other instruments or administrative documents reference them. A user searching older material may need to account for previous short titles.

• No interaction recorded with payment mechanism statutes in these Regulations: The Regulations do not prescribe payment mechanics, exemptions, or recovery powers. Any interaction with statutes that govern payment methods, tax administration or debt recovery would be via the parent Act or other administrative directions. The present instrument does not alter or address those other statutory regimes directly.

In sum, the Regulations are a small, numerically precise subordinate instrument which interacts primarily by defining a statutory term contained in the Act and by being subject to amendment by a sequence of secondary instruments recorded in the compilation table. For full understanding of how the prescribed amounts operate in practice, one must map reg 3 to the parent Act (s 4) and to any other statutes or departmental instruments that govern assessment, collection and enforcement.

The Regulations have been amended multiple times since first publication. The compilation table and the amendment note appended to regulation 3 in the supplied text record the chronology and instruments responsible for varying the prescribed amounts. The key steps recorded in the supplied materials are the following.

• Original instrument and commencement: The instrument was originally published as the Petroleum (Registration Fees) Regulations 1990 on 28 September 1990 (Gazette p. 5108) and came into operation on 1 October 1990 (see the compilation table entry for the original Regulations).

• Amendments to regulation 3: Regulation 3 has been amended on many occasions. The bracketed amendment note immediately following regulation 3 lists the Gazette dates for amendments: 28 Jun 2002 p. 3092; 28 Feb 2003 p. 673; 23 Jun 2009 p. 2481; 11 May 2010 p. 1825‑6; 16 Jul 2010 p. 3365; 1 Jul 2011 p. 2742; 12 Jun 2012 p. 2457; 25 Feb 2014 p. 504; 17 Jun 2014 p. 1988; 30 Jun 2015 p. 2352; 24 Jun 2016 p. 2333; 23 Jun 2017 p. 3303; 25 Jun 2018 p. 2318; 18 Jun 2019 p. 2052‑3; SL 2020/93 r. 12; SL 2021/85 r. 25; SL 2023/36 r. 24.

• Series of reprints: The compilation table shows reprints at various dates (Reprint 1 as at 7 May 2004; Reprint 2 as at 6 Aug 2010; Reprint 3 as at 13 Jul 2018), which incorporate the amendments up to those dates. Reprints are administrative consolidations and reflect the legislative history up to their stated date.

• Broader amendment instruments: Several amending instruments that changed these Regulations are titled as parts of broader "Mines and Petroleum Regulations Amendment (Fees and Levies/Fees and Charges)" instruments. The compilation table records these instruments and their parts/points: for example, Pt. 12 of the 2016 Regulations, Pt. 13 of the 2017 and 2018 Regulations, Pt. 12 of the 2019 Regulations, Pt. 6 of the 2020 Regulations, Pt. 10 of the 2021 Regulations, and Pt. 9 of the 2023 Regulations. Each of those instruments, in whole or in part, amended the prescribed amounts in reg 3.

• Latest recorded amendment in supplied materials: The compilation table records the Mills and Petroleum Regulations Amendment (Fees and Charges) Regulations 2023 Pt. 9 (SL 2023/36) with publication 5 May 2023 and commencement 1 Jul 2023. The bracketed amendment list appended to reg 3 also includes SL 2023/36 r. 24. Taken together, the materials show active periodic amendment of the prescribed amounts across multiple years, with the most recent amendment recorded as SL 2023/36 r. 24.

• Citation change and name evolution: The "Other notes" section states that the instrument is now known by the extended title Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Registration Fees) Regulations 1990 and that the citation changed (see note under reg 1). This indicates that the instrument’s short title and potentially its scope of descriptive caption have been updated in the statutory records.

This record shows a pattern of adjustments to the numerical figures in regulation 3 effected by a sequence of amending statutory instruments rather than by an automatic indexing clause within the Regulations themselves. Practitioners should consult the compilation table and the specific amending instruments listed to trace historic fee levels for any particular period.

The supplied text contains no case law, no reported determinations, and no recorded litigation history concerning the Regulations. The instrument and accompanying compilation table do not list any judicial or tribunal decisions that interpret the Regulations, nor do they reference any litigation that arose from the prescribed amounts.

• Absence of judicial references: There are no citations to cases in the text provided. The Regulations are limited to three provisions and an amendment record; they do not include notes of judicial consideration or dispute.

• No administrative appeals recorded in these materials: The materials do not record administrative appeals or reviews related to the operation of the prescribed amounts. Any disputes about application or validity of the prescribed amounts would need to be located in external judicial or tribunal records, which are not reproduced here.

• Practical consequence for lawyers and advisers: Because the supplied Regulations do not contain litigation history, practitioners who need to understand how courts or tribunals have interpreted "the prescribed amount" in relation to section 4 of the parent Act must search judicial databases, tribunal decisions, and administrative rulings external to this text. The absence of litigation notes in the compilation materials does not imply there is no case law; it only means none is recorded within this statutory compilation.

• Recommendation implicit from the materials: For disputed assessments or enforcement actions where the numeric figure in reg 3 is material, counsel should cross‑check tribunal and court databases for decisions concerning the parent Act’s s 4 and any disputes over prescribed amounts; the supplied instrument itself does not contain such material.

In short, the legislative compilation does not supply a litigation history. Any reported adjudications that bear on the interpretation, application or review of the prescribed amounts or the parent Act’s s 4 must be researched outside the text of these Regulations.

The Regulations are short and narrowly focused, but that brevity can create practical traps when aligning them with operational practice. The materials reveal several points where errors or compliance failures commonly occur unless care is taken.

• Numerical precision matters: The Regulations set exact dollar figures for different subsections of section 4. For example, reg 3(4) prescribes $9,550.00 for s 4(4) while reg 3(5) prescribes $9,597.00 for s 4(7). Small differences in the prescribed amounts between subsections mean that applying a wrong figure to the wrong subsection will produce an incorrect assessment. Practitioners must map the exact subsection in s 4 to the correct subparagraph of reg 3.

• The Regulations do not state what triggers the fee: Reg 3 repeatedly uses the phrase "For the purposes of section 4(x) of the Act, the prescribed amount is an amount of $...". The Regulations do not themselves describe the triggering event that brings section 4 into play. Therefore, a common operational error is to assume which activities are chargeable without consulting the parent Act. The proper mapping requires reading s 4 of the Act to identify when each subsection applies.

• Commencement dependency can cause timing confusion: Regulation 2 makes the Regulations commence on the commencement of the Petroleum (Registration Fees) Amendment Act 1990 rather than listing a standalone date. That creates a two‑step inquiry: determine the Amendment Act's commencement date and then apply the Regulations from that date. The compilation table clarifies the original instrument’s commencement (1 Oct 1990) and various amendment commencements, but failure to check the correct commencement can lead to applying the wrong fee level for a given transaction date.

• Amending history requires vigilance: The prescribed figures have been amended many times (see the amendment list and compilation table). Using an out‑of‑date copy of these Regulations or relying on an old reprint can cause mischarging. Practitioners must ensure they are using the current consolidated text (the compilation table lists reprints and the most recent amendments up to SL 2023/36).

• No payment mechanics or enforcement in the Regulations: The Regulations do not indicate how payments should be made or to whom, nor do they state consequences for non‑payment. Assuming administrative detail that is not present can lead to process errors. Users must consult the parent Act and departmental guidance to determine payment procedures and enforcement pathways.

• Citation and title changes: The instrument has been renamed to include "Geothermal Energy Resources" and the citation changed (see Other notes and reg 1). When reviewing historical documents, older instruments may use the previous title (Petroleum (Registration Fees) Regulations 1990), so searching only the current title may miss relevant historical versions.

• Rounding and formatting: The figures are stated to two decimal places ($6 010.00) and use a space as a thousands separator in the text provided. When implementing automated billing systems or invoices, ensure that the exact numeric value is used (including cents), and that formatting does not alter the substantive amount.

• Discrepancy between dollar figures and administrative thresholds: The Regulations do not indicate whether these amounts are gross or net of GST, or whether they interact with tax treatment. The text is silent on tax treatment. That silence can generate accounting uncertainty; practitioners must resolve it using tax law and the parent Act’s guidance rather than these Regulations.

These "gotchas" all follow from the narrowness and numerical focus of the Regulations. Each one points to the need to pair reg 3 with the parent Act, check commencement and amendment dates, and verify administrative practices for payments and enforcement.

Compliance with these Regulations requires a two‑step approach: (1) identify whether a matter falls within section 4 of the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Registration Fees) Act 1967 and, if so, which subsection applies; and (2) apply the exact dollar figure in regulation 3 that corresponds to that subsection. The Regulations themselves do not specify payment logistics, so compliance also requires consulting the parent Act and the administering body for procedural detail. Practical compliance steps, grounded in the regulatory text provided, are as follows.

1. Map the statutory trigger. Determine whether the activity, application or registration you are dealing with invokes section 4 of the Act, and identify the correct subsection (for example s 4(2), s 4(3), s 4(4), s 4(6) or s 4(7)). The Regulations only fix the dollar amount "for the purposes of" those subsections; they do not define the scope of those subsections. Without mapping to s 4, you cannot know which prescribed amount applies.

2. Apply the correct prescribed amount. Once the relevant subsection is identified, apply the precise dollar figure listed in regulation 3:

   • s 4(2): $6,010.00 (reg 3(1))
   • s 4(3): $6,010.00 (reg 3(2))
   • s 4(4): $9,550.00 (reg 3(3))
   • s 4(6): $6,010.00 (reg 3(4))
   • s 4(7): $9,597.00 (reg 3(5))

   Ensure billing, ledgers and invoices use the exact numeric amount shown in the Regulations; do not substitute a rounded or estimated figure.

3. Confirm the operative date. Check the relevant commencement date that applies to the particular prescribed amount being used. Regulation 2 ties these Regulations to the commencement of the Petroleum (Registration Fees) Amendment Act 1990; subsequent amendments have separate commencement dates recorded in the compilation table. Use the compilation table or the consolidated instrument to confirm which prescribed amount applied on a particular transactional date, especially when dealing with historical transactions.

4. Check for later amendments. The compilation table indicates multiple amendments up to and including SL 2023/36 r. 24. Before finalising any fee assessment, verify that the figure in reg 3 you intend to use is the current consolidated figure. Use the reprints and amendment entries in the compilation table to identify whether a more recent amending instrument has altered the prescribed amount for the period in question.

5. Consult the parent Act for procedural and enforcement detail. These Regulations do not state when payment is due, who receives the payment, how to pay, or what happens on late payment or non‑payment. For deadlines, collection agents, refund or waiver processes, and enforcement powers, consult the parent Act (section 4 and any related sections) and departmental guidance.

6. Account for tax and accounting treatment outside these Regulations. The Regulations are silent on GST and other tax implications. Treat the prescribed amount as a statutory fee for purposes of your accounting and tax advice, but confirm treatment with tax advisers or the tax statute, since these Regulations do not speak to tax treatment.

7. Maintain records and audit trails. Because these Regulations set fixed statutory figures, document the legal basis for each fee assessed: cite the Act’s subsection and regulation 3’s relevant paragraph on invoices, internal approvals and audit trails. That documentation will be necessary if there is any later dispute about quantum or timing.

8. Monitor administrative practice. Because the Regulations do not set payment mechanics, check the relevant department’s published fee schedules, forms and payment portals to ensure administrative practice aligns with the numeric prescription in reg 3. Departments may publish procedural material that complements the Regulations.

9. Use the correct citation in legal documentation. Regulation 1 gives the instrument its current short title. Be aware that the instrument’s citation changed historically (see Other notes), so when preparing historical analyses or legal memoranda, cite the version that was in force at the relevant time.

10. Where in doubt, obtain legal advice. Because the Regulations are narrowly technical and the parent Act contains the operative triggers and enforcement provisions, if the applicability of a subsection of s 4 is uncertain or the consequences of non‑payment are material, seek legal advice to ensure proper interpretation and to avoid misapplication of the prescribed amount.

Following these steps aligns administrative practice with the narrow statutory role of the Regulations: they supply the precise numerical figure that s 4 of the Act requires, but do not themselves supply payment processes, enforcement, or exemptions.