2024-25 Fee Unit Value
The value of a fee unit for 2024-25 is $1.87,
which is an increase of $0.09 from the value set for 2023-24. The Minister determined an adjustment factor of zero to be used in the 2024-25 fee unit
calculation. The new value was published in the Tasmanian Government Gazette on 27 March 2024.
Fee Units Act 1997 and the Value of a Fee Unit
The Fee Units Act 1997 came into operation in the 1998-99 financial year and provides for the automatic indexation of most Government fees in line with movements in the Consumer Price Index for Hobart (CPI). This indexation ensures that the Government is able to recover increases in the cost of providing services through corresponding increases in the fees it charges to provide those services. It prevents less frequent, large increases in fees.
Under the Fee Units Act, fees set under an enactment must be set in fee units and not in dollar amounts, unless those fees are exempt from the Act. In cases where fees are set in dollar amounts (such as in legislation pre-dating the Fee Units Act), the amount of the fee is to be read as the same number of fee units (see "Setting and Adjusting Fees" for more details).
Definition of a Fee
Under the Fee Units Act, a fee is defined as a fee or charge that is payable under any enactment, but does not include a fee or charge in a regulation, rule or by-law unless it is made by or approved, confirmed or assented to by the Governor.
Administration
The Minister for Finance is currently responsible for administering the Fee Units Act. The Department of Treasury and Finance is the department responsible to the Minister in relation to the administration of the Act.
Exemptions
The Minister, by notice published in the Gazette, may exempt fees from the Fee Units Act. Exemptions from the Fee Units Act are not common and usually apply when the body setting the fee operates at arms length from a Government department. The Fee Units Act does not apply to fees levied by a Government Business Enterprise (GBE), unless the fee relates to a public regulatory function or power of that GBE.
How is the Value of a Fee Unit Calculated?
The value of a fee unit for any financial year is calculated based on the value of the fee unit for the previous financial year and the change in the CPI for Hobart. The CPI change is determined by dividing the average Hobart CPI in the year to December immediately preceding the financial year in which the value of a fee unit is to apply, with the average Hobart CPI in the previous year to December.
The calculation also allows for an adjustment factor, which caters for cases where the CPI growth is considered greater than the actual increase in costs to the Government of providing services for which fees are charged. An example was the introduction of the Commonwealth Government's Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July 2000, which increased CPI by around 2.75 per cent more than the increase in the cost to the Government of providing services.
The Minister therefore set the fee unit adjustment factor at 2.75 per cent for the calculation of the value of a fee unit for 2001-02.
The calculation formula for the value of a fee unit is as follows:
F1 = F0 x [(B/C)-X]
Where -
F1 is the value in dollars of one fee unit during the relevant financial year;
F0 is the value in dollars of one fee unit during the previous financial year;
B is the average CPI figure for Hobart in respect of the 4 quarters ending on 31 December immediately preceding the financial year in which the value of a fee unit is to apply;
C is the average CPI figure for Hobart in respect of the 4 quarters immediately preceding the 4 quarters referred to in the definition of B; and
X is the fee unit adjustment factor, expressed as a decimal, and must be greater than or equal to zero.
The fee unit values for 2024-25 and previous years are as follows:
Financial year
| Fee unit value
|
|---|
2024-25
2023-24
2022-23
2021-22
2020-21
2019-20
| $1.87
$1.78
$1.70
$1.65
$1.62
$1.62 |
2018-19
| $1.58
|
2017-18
| $1.55 |
| 2016-17 | $1.53 |
2015-16
| $1.51 |
| 2014-15 | $1.48 |
| 2013-14 | $1.46 |
| 2012-13 | $1.44 |
| 2011-12 | $1.40 |
| 2010-11 | $1.36 |
| 2009-10 | $1.33 |
| 2008-09 | $1.28 |
| 2007-08 | $1.25 |
| 2006-07 | $1.21 |
| 2005-06 | $1.17 |
| 2004-05 | $1.14 |
| 2003-04 | $1.11 |
| 2002-03 | $1.08 |
| 2001-02 | $1.05 |
| 2000-01 | $1.02 |
| 1999-00 | $1.01 |
1998-99
| $1.00
|
Gazettal of the Fee Unit Value
The Minister is responsible for publishing in the Government Gazette, by 1 April each year, the value of a fee unit that is to apply for the financial year beginning on 1 July in that year.
Tabling of the Fee Unit Value
Treasury is required to table the fee unit value Gazette notice in both Houses of Parliament within ten sitting days of its publication. In circumstances where the Gazette notice contains an incorrect fee unit value, provisions under the Fee Units Act allow for an amending notice to be published.
Parliament can disallow the fee unit value for the upcoming financial year. Where a fee unit value has been disallowed, the value of the fee unit remains at the same level as in the previous year.
Gazette notices published in accordance with the Fee Units Act are considered to be subordinate legislation and, therefore, are also subject to review, and potential rescission, by the Subordinate Legislation Committee. Again, where a fee unit value has been rescinded, the value of the fee unit remains at the same level as in the previous year.
Publication of Fees
Government agencies are responsible for publishing in a notice on their websites the value of the fees they intend to charge from 1 July according to the new fee unit value. The notice must include:
- the amount of the current fee, excluding the goods and services tax;
- the amount of the fee for the next financial year, excluding the goods and services tax;
- whether or not the goods and services tax applies to the fee;
- if the goods and services tax applies to the fee, the amount of goods and services tax payable in respect of the fee; and
- the total fee payable.
In addition, Government agencies are required to take any other action considered appropriate in order to inform fee payers of any changes to fees.
All fees must be published on an agency's website before they can be charged.
Setting and Adjusting Fees
Fees can be set and adjusted at any time in accordance with the provisions of the enactment under which they are levied. The Fee Units Act is simply the mechanism to index fees once they have been set or adjusted.
If a fee is published incorrectly on an agency's website, an enactment has changed or a fee has been omitted from a website, provisions under the Fee Units Act allow for the correction of that fee.
Provisions are also contained within the Fee Units Act for agencies to provide a refund to those persons affected by any inadvertent overcharging where appropriate.
Further Information
For further information regarding fee units and the
Fee Units Act 1997, please contact the Economic Policy Branch.