This Regulation relies on a few discrete statutory concepts that determine its operation. Each concept is defined or instantiated in the text and links into the Act.

Fee unit and fees

• The regulation adopts the concept of a fee unit, defined in Schedule 1 Part 2 by reference to the Consumer Price Index (All Groups Index) for Sydney and financial year periods (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 1). The fee amounts for the two listed applications are expressed in fee units in Schedule 1 Part 1: 1.86 fee units for an application for registration (Act, s 6) and 0.93 fee units for an application to revoke registration (Act, s 11) (Schedule 1 Part 1 table; s 5(1)). The nominal dollar value of a fee unit is fixed at $100 for 2024-25 and then indexed in later years according to CPI formulae in cl 2 of Part 2 (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2). The Regulation requires rounding rules for fee units (to nearest cent, 0.5 cent down) and for fee amounts calculated from fee units (to nearest dollar, 50 cents down) (Schedule 1 Part 2, cls 2-3).

Recognition of interstate relationships and corresponding laws

• The Regulation prescribes particular interstate Acts as "corresponding laws" for the purpose of the Act's definition of that term (s 4(1)). It then declares particular classes of relationships formed or registered under those corresponding laws to be interstate registered relationships for the purposes of the Act (s 4(2)). These provisions create a legal mechanism for interstate registrations to be acknowledged within the NSW relationships register framework.

Service and proof of service of revocation notices

• Section 6 prescribes three permitted methods for serving a notice of an application to revoke registration: personal service in accordance with Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 rule 10.21, registered post to the person’s business or residential address, or transmission of an electronic copy to the person’s email address (s 6(1)(a)-(c)). Proof of service is to be provided to the Registrar by way of a statutory declaration from the server that records the server’s name, the method, and the date and time of service (s 6(2)).

Information sharing across jurisdictions

• The Registrar is given an express power to provide information about registrations in NSW to registration authorities under the corresponding laws listed in s 4(1) (s 7). The power is permissive, using the word "may", and is directed to administrative exchange between registration authorities.

Repeal and continuity

• The Regulation expressly repeals the 2015 Regulation (s 8(1)) but contains a saving provision that preserves the effect of acts, matters or things that had effect under the 2015 Regulation immediately before repeal (s 8(2)).

Administrative actions and discretion

• The Registrar has a discretionary power to waive or refund fees in "appropriate cases" (s 5(3)). The Regulation also requires administrative steps from the Registrar when the CPI number is published: notifying Parliamentary Counsel of the fee unit amount and publishing public notice of the actual amounts applying each financial year (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 4(1)(a)-(b)). Clause 4(2) clarifies that fee changes operate regardless of the timing of the notices.

Definitions and interpretive cross-references

• The Regulation defines "the Act" as the Relationships Register Act 2010 and expressly notes that the Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 contain definitions and provisions that affect interpretation and application of the Regulation (s 3(1) note). It also defines "fee unit" by reference to Schedule 1, section 2 (s 3(1)).

Taken together, these concepts create a compact administrative framework: fee-setting and indexation tied to CPI, prescribed interstate recognition, prescribed methods and evidentiary requirements for service and proof in revocation proceedings, and limited administrative-sharing powers for the Registrar.

Primary private parties directly affected

• Applicants seeking registration of a relationship under the Act (Act, s 6) and persons applying to revoke a registration (Act, s 11) are the immediate payers of the fees set out in Schedule 1 Part 1 (s 5(1); Schedule 1 Part 1 table). The fee amounts are denominated in fee units and must be converted to a dollar amount using the fee unit schedule in Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2. Thus, applicants bear the direct financial cost quantified by the Regulation.

• The other person in a registered relationship is the intended recipient of any notice of an application to revoke registration and therefore may receive service personally, by registered post or by email (s 6(1)). That person may also be the subject of a statutory-declaration record of service provided to the Registrar (s 6(2)).

Registration authorities in other jurisdictions

• Registration authorities under the prescribed corresponding laws listed in s 4(1) (ACT, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria statutes) are potential recipients of registration information that the NSW Registrar may provide under s 7. Those interstate authorities may receive administrative data but are not compelled to accept it by the Regulation.

The Registrar and NSW administrative actors

• The Registrar is the decision-maker for fee waivers or refunds (s 5(3)), the entity required to publish indexed fee notices and notify Parliamentary Counsel after CPI publication (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 4(1)), and the actor empowered to provide registration information to interstate registration authorities (s 7). These are administrative duties and discretions placed on the Registrar.

Legal practitioners and process servers

• Because the Regulation prescribes service methods and a specific required form of proof (s 6(1)-(2)), legal practitioners, process servers and clients must adapt procedures to comply. Personal service is tied to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 rule 10.21 (s 6(1)(a)), so practitioners must ensure personal service complies with that rule when chosen.

Public and prospective registrants with interstate registrations

• Individuals with relationships registered under the specified interstate statutes are directly affected by s 4(2), which declares those classes of interstate registrations to be recognised as interstate registered relationships for the purpose of the Act. This recognition affects how such registrations are treated within NSW administrative processes; the text does not specify whether recognition triggers automatic registration in NSW or only recognition for certain legal purposes under the Act, so affected persons must consult the Act for substantive consequences.

Entities performing records and accounting functions

• The fee-unit indexation mechanism imposes an administrative bookkeeping function on agencies and applicants: converting fee units to dollar amounts each financial year, applying rounding rules, and watching for the Registrar's notices (Schedule 1 Part 2, cls 2-4). Organisations involved in intake or payment processing will need to implement the indexed fee calculation and rounding rules.

No litigation parties named in this Regulation

• The text contains no litigation or judicial decisions; the document does not name any cases or judicial determinations that constrain or interpret its operation. Litigation history is absent from the Regulation itself.

In sum, private parties paying fees and those who must be served with revocation notices face the most immediate regulatory effects. Administrative staff at the Registrar’s office and interstate registration authorities are the principal public-side actors. The Regulation embeds discrete compliance tasks for applicants and for the Registrar in fee calculation, service procedures and inter-jurisdictional information exchange.

The Regulation allocates a small set of duties, rights and administrative discretions between applicants, persons in registered relationships, the Registrar and interstate registration authorities. Each is described below with the controlling provision.

Applicants and persons in registered relationships

• Duty to pay fees: Applicants for registration (Act, s 6) and applicants to revoke registration (Act, s 11) must pay the fees set out in Schedule 1 Part 1. The fee amounts are denominated in fee units, so the applicant bears the duty to convert that unit to the applicable dollar amount for the relevant financial year in accordance with Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2 (s 5(1); Schedule 1 Part 1 table; Schedule 1 Part 2 cl 2).
• Duty to accept service methods: A person who gives a notice of an application to revoke registration must serve the other person using one of the three permitted methods: personal service per Uniform Civil Procedure Rules rule 10.21, registered post to business or residential address, or electronic transmission to the person’s email address (s 6(1)(a)-(c)). The server must then provide proof of service to the Registrar by way of statutory declaration stating the server’s name, method of service and date/time (s 6(2)).
• Right to be served: The person in a registered relationship has the right to receive notice of an application to revoke registration by one of the methods specified in s 6(1). The Regulation prescribes how notice may be delivered but does not, within its text, prescribe consequences if a person cannot be served by those methods; those consequences will be governed by the Act and potentially the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules where relevant.

Registrar

• Discretion to waive or refund fees: The Registrar may, in appropriate cases, waive or refund the whole or part of a fee for an application (s 5(3)). The Regulation does not define "appropriate cases", so the Registrar’s exercise of that power is an administrative discretion that will be subject to administrative law controls under general principles and the Act.
• Duty to publish fee notices and notify Parliamentary Counsel: When the CPI number for the March quarter is first published by the ABS, the Registrar must notify Parliamentary Counsel of the fee unit for the next financial year for publication and must give public notice on an appropriate government website of the actual amounts of the fees applying in each financial year as the fee unit is applied (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 4(1)(a)-(b)). Clause 4(2) clarifies that the indexing operation itself does not depend on the timing of those notices.
• Permission to share registration information with corresponding authorities: The Registrar may provide information about registrations in NSW to registration authorities under the prescribed corresponding laws (s 7). This is a permissive power, not an obligation.

Interstate registration authorities

• Receiving registration information: Registration authorities under the corresponding laws listed in s 4(1) are identified as persons to whom the Registrar may provide registration information (s 7). The Regulation does not prescribe the form of that information exchange.

General interpretive cross-references

• The Regulation expressly places reliance on the Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 for definitions and other interpretive provisions that affect the Regulation (s 3(1) note). Where the Regulation refers to rule 10.21 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 for personal service, the duties under that rule become relevant to the operation of s 6(1)(a).

Limits and procedural rules not contained in the Regulation

• The Regulation does not itself create rights of judicial review, appeal, or substantive fibric of registration; those matters are governed by the Act, which the Regulation references (s 3(1) note). The Regulation’s duties are therefore largely procedural and administrative: payment and indexing of fees, service and proof of service, and inter-agency information exchange, with a Registrar discretion in relation to fees.

The Regulation contains no express criminal penalties, pecuniary penalties, or enforcement sanctions within its text. It operates as a subordinate instrument that prescribes administrative procedures and fees under the Act. The penalties and enforcement mechanisms that attach to failure to comply with obligations under the Act itself (for example, relating to false information, improper registration or unauthorised access to registers) are not restated in this Regulation; those matters are governed by the Act and other relevant statutes. The Regulation does, however, create enforceable procedural requirements that bear on administrative action and could have indirect enforcement consequences through the Act’s processes.

Key enforcement-relevant procedural measures in the Regulation

• Proof of service requirement: Section 6(2) requires a statutory declaration to be provided to the Registrar that records the person who served the notice, the method of service and the date and time of service. The statutory declaration requirement creates an evidentiary record that the Registrar and any party may rely on in administrative processes. If a statutory declaration is false, the declarant may attract penalties for making a false statutory declaration under the Oaths Act or equivalent provisions; however, the Regulation itself does not state criminal sanctions (s 6(2)).

• Fee payment as condition of application: The Regulation sets fees for applications under the Act (s 5(1); Schedule 1 Part 1). Failure to pay the fee may affect the processing of an application. The Regulation does not itself specify late payment penalties or debt recovery mechanisms; those are matters for administrative practice under the Act or general government payment recovery procedures.

• Registrar discretion and administrative remedies: The Registrar’s power to waive or refund part or all of a fee (s 5(3)) is an administrative discretion. The exercise of that discretion can be subject to judicial review on standard administrative-law grounds (not within this Regulation), but the Regulation itself does not prescribe internal review or appeal mechanisms for decisions under s 5(3).

• Information sharing: Section 7 permits the Registrar to provide information to interstate registration authorities. The Regulation does not specify privacy safeguards or data-protection procedures for such disclosures; any legal limits on disclosure will derive from the Act, the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act and other applicable law, not from the Regulation itself.

• Indexation and notice: Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 4 imposes notification duties on the Registrar when the CPI number is first published, but cl 4(2) states that changes operate irrespective of those notices. Non-compliance by the Registrar with the notification obligations may be an administrative failure; the Regulation does not set penalties for breach of cl 4(1).

In short, the Regulation prescribes administrative obligations and discretions but does not itself create explicit sanctions. Enforcement of compliance with those obligations will therefore be mediated by the Act, general statutory offences outside the Regulation (such as offences for false statutory declarations), and administrative procedures and remedies available under general law.

This Regulation is expressly framed as subsidiary to, and dependent on, the Relationships Register Act 2010 (the Act) and other instruments. The interactions the Regulation creates are procedural, definitional and inter-jurisdictional.

Dependency on the Act and Interpretation Act

• The Regulation defines "the Act" to mean the Relationships Register Act 2010 and includes a note that the Act and the Interpretation Act 1987 contain definitions and other provisions that affect interpretation and application of this Regulation (s 3(1) note). Therefore, the Regulation must be read alongside the Act; substantive questions about registration, legal consequences of registration, eligibility, appeals and review fall to the Act rather than this Regulation.

Reference to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005

• For personal service of a revocation application notice, the Regulation references rule 10.21 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (s 6(1)(a)). This links the Regulation to procedural civil-law rules governing personal service. Compliance with personal service for a revocation notice therefore requires adherence to UCPR rule 10.21.

Interstate recognition and corresponding laws

• The Regulation prescribes certain interstate statutes as corresponding laws for the purpose of the Act’s definition of corresponding law (s 4(1)). It then declares classes of interstate registered relationships under those statutes to be interstate registered relationships for the purposes of the Act (s 4(2)). This creates an explicit statutory relationship between the NSW register and registrations under those interstate Acts. The Regulation does not, however, set out how recognition affects specific rights or entitlements; those substantive legal effects are governed by the Act and any relevant NSW legislation that confers rights based on registration.

Information sharing and privacy law

• Section 7 permits the Registrar to provide information about the registration of relationships in this State to registration authorities under corresponding laws. That power must be exercised in the context of other legal obligations, in particular privacy and records legislation, though the Regulation itself does not elaborate privacy safeguards. The Act and state privacy laws, such as the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, will therefore interact with s 7 when the Registrar shares personal data.

Fee indexation and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) CPI data

• Schedule 1 Part 2 ties the fee unit to the Consumer Price Index (All Groups Index) for Sydney as published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (Part 2, cl 1). The fee-unit calculation formulas in cl 2 depend on CPI numbers for particular March quarters (cl 2(1)(b)-(c)). This creates an operational dependency on ABS statistical publications. Clause 4 requires the Registrar to notify Parliamentary Counsel and publish notices once the CPI is released (cl 4(1)), but cl 4(2) makes clear that the indexed fees operate regardless of the timing of notices.

Interaction with the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989

• The Commencement note cross-references s 10(2) of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989 as relevant to the repeal and replacement of the 2015 Regulation, indicating that the 2015 instrument would otherwise have been repealed on 1 September 2020 under that Act (s 2 note). This situates the Regulation within the subordinate legislation framework and its automatic repeal provisions.

Statutory conglomeration

• The Regulation’s brief scope means that many operational and legal consequences will be determined by cross-references: fees set here are applied to Act processes; service procedures interact with the UCPR; interstate recognition interacts with the Act’s definition of corresponding law. In practice, readers must consult the Act and the cited external instruments for comprehensive legal effect.

The Regulation contains explicit amendment notes embedded in its text. The text records the following interventions:

• The Regulation itself is titled Relationships Register Regulation 2020 (1 Name of Regulation). It replaced the Relationships Register Regulation 2015, and commencement occurred on publication on the NSW legislation website; the Commencement note states this Regulation "repeals and replaces the Relationships Register Regulation 2015" which would otherwise have been repealed on 1 September 2020 by s 10(2) of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989 (s 2 note).

• Section 3 carries an amendment annotation: "s 3: Am 2024 (192), Sch 2[1] [2]." That indicates section 3 was amended by an instrument numbered 2024 (192), schedule 2, items 1 and 2. The content of s 3 defines fee unit and the Act, and includes a note that notes do not form part of the Regulation. The presence of the annotation indicates that s 3 as shown is the post-amendment text.

• Section 5 shows amendment annotations: "s 5: Am 2023 (632), Sch 2[1] [2]; 2024 (192), Sch 2[3]." That indicates section 5 was amended by two later instruments: one in 2023 and another in 2024. Section 5 deals with the setting of fees for applications and the Registrar’s waiver/refund discretion. The amendments likely relate to fee-setting particulars or the waiver provision, but the printed text here shows the current content, including the discretionary power in s 5(3).

• Schedule 1 contains an insertion annotation: "sch 1: Ins 2024 (192), Sch 2[4]." That indicates Schedule 1 was inserted or materially changed by the 2024 instrument referenced. The Schedule includes the Part 1 fee items and Part 2 indexation mechanisms and notices, so the amendment note signals that these fee and indexing rules were added or updated in 2024.

• No earlier amendment annotations are printed here for other sections, and the Regulation records the repeal of the 2015 Regulation in s 8(1) and preserves continuity of acts or matters that had effect under the old Regulation (s 8(2)).

The instrument’s amendment notes provide the only explicit legislative history contained within the text. The Regulation does not include, within its printed content, a consolidated amendment table or a chronology beyond the annotations cited above. To trace the precise textual changes effected by the instruments referenced (for example, 2023 (632) and 2024 (192)), one must consult those amending instruments and their schedules. The Regulation itself does not set out explanatory reasons for the amendments; it simply records that amendments occurred.

The Regulation does not contain any references to judicial decisions, case law, or litigation history. No cases, judicial interpretations, or litigation outcomes are named or summarised within the text. Consequently, there is no litigation history contained in this instrument that would alter or interpret its provisions.

Where litigated questions might arise , for example, disputes over service of a revocation application, the sufficiency of evidence of service, the exercise of the Registrar’s fee-waiver discretion, or the scope of recognition given to interstate registrations , those matters would be litigated and decided under the Act, general administrative law principles, the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, and other relevant statutes. Such judicial developments, if any, would not appear in this Regulation unless subsequent amending instruments annotated them or the Act or regulations were changed in response to litigation. The Regulation as presented contains no such entries.

Practitioners seeking precedent or judicial clarification of these Regulation provisions must therefore look to decisions under the Act and to administrative law jurisprudence, none of which is recorded in this text. In practice, areas where litigation could plausibly arise include challenges to proof of service (s 6(2)), disputes over fee-waiver decisions (s 5(3)), and confidentiality or privacy disputes arising from information-sharing under s 7; however, any such litigated outcomes are outside the Regulation’s printed record.

The Regulation is short but contains a number of technical features and potential pitfalls for administrators, applicants and practitioners. Each point below is grounded in the Regulation’s text.

Fee unit indexing mechanics and timing

• The fee unit is fixed at $100 only for the financial year 2024-25 (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2(1)(a)). For 2025-26 and later years the amount is calculated by formulae that reference CPI numbers for particular March quarters (cl 2(1)(b)-(c)). The text shows the variables: for 2025-26, A is the CPI number for March quarter 2025 and B is the CPI number for March quarter 2024; for 2026-27 and subsequent years, A is the CPI number for March quarter 2026 and B is the CPI number for March quarter 2024 (cl 2(1)(b)-(c)). Practitioners should note that B is fixed to March 2024 in both formulas as printed; that fixed reference point means indexing is relative to a single base quarter rather than year-on-year sequential quarters. The formulas themselves are embedded as images in the source, but the surrounding text identifies the CPI variables and their quarter references. If users rely on fee unit figures published elsewhere, they must verify the precise formula used here.

• Clause 2(3) states that if the calculated fee unit for any financial year is less than the prior year’s amount, the previous year’s amount applies instead. That creates a floor preventing nominal decreases from CPI fluctuations (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2(3)). Users must therefore check the previous financial year’s fee unit if an annual calculation would otherwise yield a lower amount.

Rounding rules may produce non-intuitive amounts

• The fee unit must be rounded to the nearest cent and 0.5 cent rounded down (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2(2)). The final fee amount calculated from the fee unit must be rounded to the nearest dollar, with 50 cents rounded down (Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 3). Because the base fees are fractional fee units (1.86 and 0.93), small changes in the fee unit can cause step changes in the dollar fee after rounding that are larger than CPI movement alone would suggest. Accountants and payment processors must implement the prescribed rounding rules precisely.

Fee amounts are small but indexed

• The numerical values in Schedule 1 Part 1 are low in fee-unit terms: 1.86 and 0.93 fee units. At a $100 fee unit in 2024-25 those translate to $186 and $93 respectively. However, because the fee unit is indexed, practitioners must update any fixed-price fee schedules each financial year to reflect the new dollar amounts and rounding (s 5(1); Schedule 1 Part 2).

Registrar’s discretionary waiver is undefined

• Section 5(3) allows the Registrar to waiver or refund whole or part of a fee "in appropriate cases", but does not define criteria or a review process for that discretion (s 5(3)). Applicants seeking a waiver will face administrative discretion exercised without statutory standards in the Regulation. That discretion is real but unpredictable in the absence of Registrar policy documents or published guidance.

Service by email is permitted but proof requirements remain

• The Regulation permits transmission of an electronic copy of the document to the person’s email address as a method of service (s 6(1)(c)). However, proof of service must be provided by statutory declaration that records the person who served, the method and the date/time (s 6(2)). There is therefore a procedural risk if the email is not delivered, is sent to an incorrect address, or the recipient disputes receipt. Personal service per UCPR rule 10.21 remains an option and is likely to produce clearer evidence of delivery. Practitioners should ensure that the statutory declaration adequately documents the email transmission, including any SMTP headers or delivery receipts if available.

Interstate recognition is limited to named statutes and classes

• Section 4(1) prescribes specific statutes and s 4(2) lists specific classes of relationships under those statutes as interstate registered relationships. The Regulation does not purport to recognise registrations under other interstate law, nor does it provide for an open-ended recognition test. If a relationship is registered under a different statute or under a variant instrument not listed, it will not be covered by s 4(2) unless separately prescribed.

Information-sharing lacks detailed safeguards in the text

• Section 7 permits the Registrar to provide information about registrations to registration authorities under corresponding laws but does not specify permitted data fields, consent requirements, retention or re-disclosure limits (s 7). That means data-sharing will need to be governed by the Act, privacy legislation, or Registrar policy. Practitioners should check privacy obligations before making requests for data or relying on shared data.

Notices do not determine the operation of indexed fees

• Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 4(2) explicitly provides that the part operates to change fee amounts regardless of the timing of the Registrar’s or Parliamentary Counsel’s notices (cl 4(2)). That means that delays in publication or notification do not prevent the indexed fee from applying in the relevant financial year. Fee-collection systems should apply the indexing calculation as a matter of statutory operation and not wait for the Registrar’s web notice.

Repeal saving may carry legacy records or obligations

• Section 8(2) preserves acts, matters or things that had effect under the repealed 2015 Regulation (s 8(2)). Administrators and record-keepers must therefore examine the legacy regulation’s effects where continuity of rights, registrations or administrative acts may matter to records and entitlements.

In short, the principal "gotchas" are the precise indexing mechanics and base quarter, the rounding rules, the undefined waiver criteria, the evidentiary requirements for service (especially for email), the narrow list of recognised interstate statutes and classes, and the absence of granular privacy safeguards for inter-jurisdictional data sharing. Each of these matters is grounded in the Regulation’s clauses referenced above.

This section sets out concrete, source-grounded steps and practices for applicants, registrants, legal advisers and administrative officers to comply with the Regulation’s requirements. Each step cites the controlling provision.

Fee calculation and payment

• Identify the fee in fee units from Schedule 1 Part 1. For registration under the Act, section 6, the fee is 1.86 fee units; for an application to revoke under the Act, section 11, the fee is 0.93 fee units (Schedule 1 Part 1 table; s 5(1)).
• Convert fee units to a dollar amount by applying the fee unit amount for the relevant financial year as set out in Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2. For 2024-25 the fee unit is $100 (cl 2(1)(a)). For 2025-26 and subsequent years apply the CPI-based formulae in cl 2(1)(b)-(c) using the relevant March quarter CPI numbers; round the fee unit to the nearest cent, with 0.5 cent rounded down (cl 2(2)); then multiply by the fee-unit quantity (1.86 or 0.93) and round the resulting dollar amount to the nearest dollar, with 50 cents rounded down (cl 3).
• If the calculated fee unit is less than the previous financial year, apply the previous year’s fee unit instead (cl 2(3)).
• Do not rely on the Registrar’s public notice for the legal effect of the indexed amounts; the indexing operates irrespective of the notices (cl 4(2)). Nevertheless, check the Registrar’s published notice on an appropriate government website and the Parliamentary Counsel publication for confirmation and convenience (cl 4(1)).

Applying for waivers or refunds

• If a fee waiver or refund is sought, direct the request to the Registrar because s 5(3) vests discretion in the Registrar to waive or refund whole or part of a fee. Because the Regulation does not specify criteria for "appropriate cases", seek any available Registrar guidance on waiver criteria and include supporting material that demonstrates hardship or other relevant circumstances.

Service of revocation notices

• When serving a notice of an application to revoke a registration, choose one of the three permitted methods in s 6(1): personal service in accordance with Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 rule 10.21, registered post to the recipient’s business or residential address, or transmission by email to the recipient’s email address. If in doubt about reliability of delivery, prefer personal service or registered post, which produce stronger evidentiary records.
• After service, prepare and lodge with the Registrar a statutory declaration by the person who served or caused service. The statutory declaration must set out the server’s name, the method of service and the date and time of service (s 6(2)). Ensure the statutory declaration is correctly witnessed under the Oaths Act or the appropriate witnessing rules to be admissible.
• Keep copies of delivery receipts, registered-post tracking numbers, email delivery/read receipts and any other proof to support the statutory declaration.

Recognition of interstate registrations

• If a relationship has been registered under one of the prescribed corresponding laws, record that it is declared an interstate registered relationship under s 4(2) (for example, civil unions under the ACT Civil Unions Act 2012, civil partnerships under the Queensland Civil Partnerships Act 2011, registered relationships under Victoria’s Relationships Act 2008, etc.). Where a registration is relied upon for legal status or administrative entitlements in NSW, confirm the specific legal effect under the Act because the Regulation’s s 4(2) only declares the relationships to be interstate registered relationships for the Act’s purposes; substantive consequences flow from the Act.

Information sharing and privacy

• If you are the Registrar or an applicant requesting data transfers to interstate registration authorities, ensure that any disclosure under s 7 is consistent with the Act and privacy law. The Regulation grants a permissive power to the Registrar to provide information (s 7). Verify internal policies and privacy obligations before sharing personal data and implement recordkeeping of disclosures.

Operational and accounting compliance

• Update payment systems to compute fee amounts annually using the fee unit conversion and rounding rules in Schedule 1 Part 2, cls 2-3. Implement the floor rule in cl 2(3) so that fee units do not decrease year to year even if CPI calculations would produce a smaller fee unit.
• Monitor the ABS release of the CPI number for the March quarter each year, because clause 4(1) triggers the Registrar’s notification obligations. While the indexed fees operate regardless of notice timing (cl 4(2)), timely internal calculation is required for billing.
• Publish internal guidance for intake staff about the permitted service methods and the statutory-declaration proof requirement in s 6(2). Include templates for the statutory declaration that capture the elements required by the Regulation.

Records and continuity with prior regulation

• For existing registrations or actions taken under the 2015 Regulation, note that s 8(2) preserves acts, matters or things that had effect immediately before repeal. Ensure continuity in records so that any administrative acts under the prior regulation are traceable and enforceable where necessary.

Practical checklist

• Identify application type and corresponding fee unit quantity (1.86 or 0.93).
• Determine applicable financial year and fee unit dollar value per Schedule 1 Part 2, cl 2.
• Apply rounding rules: fee unit to nearest cent (0.5 cent down); final fee to nearest dollar (50 cents down).
• Pay fee or, if seeking waiver, file request with supporting evidence to the Registrar.
• When pursuing revocation, choose and execute a permitted service method (s 6(1)), then lodge a statutory declaration describing who served, how and when (s 6(2)).
• If relying on interstate registration, record statute and class per s 4(1)-(2).
• Keep records for disclosure under s 7 and ensure privacy compliance.

Following these steps aligns administrative practice with the Regulation’s text as printed. Where the Regulation references external instruments (the Act, UCPR, Interpretation Act), consult those instruments for the broader procedural and substantive legal context.