Commonwealth legislation

Telecommunications (Non-refundable Code Development Costs and Auditing Requirements) Determination 2026

In ForceCTH

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Collection

legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

3/10 complexity

This Determination specifies which costs from developing or varying consumer-related telecommunications industry codes are not refundable, who may be an approved auditor, and what documentary evidence is required for statements of costs. It affects industry participants and consumer bodies under the Telecommunications Act 1997 by clarifying what expenses they can recover, who must verify cost statements, and what proof is needed — meaning participants bear non-refundable items in s6, must use auditors listed in s7, and meet the evidence rules in s8.

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Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Telecommunications (Non-refundable Code Development Costs and Auditing Requirements) Determination 2026.

Name of Determination

1 Name of Determination

This Determination is the Telecommunications (Non-refundable Code Development Costs and Auditing Requirements) Determination 2026.

Commencement

2 Commencement

This Determination commences at the start of the day after the day it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.

Note: All legislative instruments are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation kept under the Legislation Act 2003. See https://www.legislation.gov.au.

Authority

3 Authority

This determination is made under subsections 136C(5) and 136E(1) of the Act.

Repeal

4 Repeal

The Telecommunications (Non-refundable Code Development Costs and Auditing Requirements) Determination 2016 (F2016L00365) is repealed.

Definitions

5 Definitions

In this Determination:

Act means the Telecommunications Act 1997.

consumer body has the meaning given by subsection 593(8) of the Act.

industry code means an industry code developed or varied under Part 6 of the Act.

industry participant means a participant in a relevant section of the telecommunications industry, telemarketing industry or the fax marketing industry mentioned in sections 111, 111AA or 111AB of the Act.

refundable cost has the meaning given by section 136E of the Act.

statement of costs means a written statement of the kind referred to in subparagraph 136C(1)(e)(i) or subparagraph 136C(3A)(e)(i) of the Act.

Costs that are not refundable

6 Costs that are not refundable

For subsection 136E(1) of the Act, the following costs are specified:

costs that are not directly attributable to the development or variation of a consumer-related industry code;
costs incurred by an industry participant during the development or variation of a consumer-related industry code that would have been incurred had the participant not participated in the code development or variation process;
costs incurred by a consumer body that are the subject of:
1. a grant of financial assistance under subsection 593(1) of the Act by the Minister; or
2. another program funded by the Commonwealth;
any cost to the extent to which it was not reasonably incurred as part of the code development or variation process.

Approved auditors

7 Approved auditors

For paragraph 136C(5)(a) of the Act, an approved auditor is a person who is a practising member of:

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand;
CPA Australia Ltd; or
Institute of Public Accountants.

Approved auditing requirements

8 Approved auditing requirements

For paragraph 136C(5)(b) of the Act, the approved auditing requirements are:

a statement of costs must only include costs that are refundable costs; and
each of the costs listed in a statement of costs must be accurate and supported by relevant documentary evidence demonstrating that the costs have been incurred.

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.