Levies for 2011-12 – frequently asked questions

What is the levy for? 

Levy is charged to Commonwealth licensed operators to cover the costs associated with managing Commonwealth fisheries. AFMA’s Cost Recovery Impact Statement, which details the percentage of costs attributed to government and concession holders, is available on the AFMA website. 

Who pays the levy? 

Commonwealth concession owners are required to contribute to the cost of managing the fishery for which they own a fishing concession. AFMA recommends that you check on the status of levy payments before purchasing concessions as AFMA may suspend or cancel a concession due to outstanding levies or penalties, regardless as to whether or not the current concession holder was the party originally issued the levy invoice for the concession. The Fisheries Management Act 1991 provides for the suspension and cancelation of a fishing concession if, among other things, any fee, levy charge or other money relating to the concession is not paid and becomes due. 

Does the government contribute to the cost of managing Commonwealth fisheries? 

The Australian Federal government does contribute to the cost of managing Commonwealth fisheries. The amount of money the government contributes is based on AFMA’s Cost Recovery Impact Statement (CRIS) which was prepared in accordance with the Australian Government’s Cost Recovery Policy. The CRIS sets out which costs of fisheries management the government pays for and those that are recovered from industry. AFMA’s CRIS is available on the AFMA website.

What does the levy pay for?

The levy covers the annual costs of managing the fishery in which the concession is held. This includes items such as the costs of running management advisory committees, logbook programs, licensing registers and transactions, quota management, research and some operative costs.

What period of time do these levies relate to? 

Levies for 2011-2012 cover the costs incurred for the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012.

How much are levies this year?

Table 1 in the 2011-1-2012 AFMA Levy Guide outlines the amount of levy concession holders in different fisheries will be required to pay for each of their fishing concessions along with the proposed dates for when the levies become due and payable.

Why has the amount payable for levies changed this year? 

Levies may have increased or decreased this year depending on a change in costs that need to be recovered from that particular fishery, or a change in who is allocated to pay those costs (government or industry). 

Overview of cost recovered budget and levy collection

Despite inflation, AFMA’s cost recovered budgets for fisheries management have remained relatively consistent since 2005. For 2011–2012, the total AFMA budget that is subject to cost recovery is $13.97 million. This amount includes fee for service and Torres Strait Prawn and is an increase of 3.2 per cent from the total AFMA 2010-2011 cost recovered budget of $13.54 million. Since last financial year, twelve fisheries have had a reduction in their budget with six fisheries having a budget increase.

The amount to be collected from the fishing industry each year comprises the budgeted cost recovery amount, plus or minus the acquittal from the prior financial year. In addition, AFMA collects a research levy of 0.25% of each fishery’s gross value of production (GVP) on behalf of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC).

The actual amount proposed to be collected through the Levy Regulations for Commonwealth fisheries for 2011-2012 is $13.64 million, excluding the FRDC research component. This is an increase of $1.45 million or 11.9 per cent on the amount levied in the 2010–2011 financial year of $12.19 million. There are eighteen fisheries subject to levies in the 2011–2012 financial year, ten of which will have increased levies and eight will have decreased levies.

The increase in levies from 2010-2011 is largely due to AFMA not underspending its budget as it has in previous years because of increasing costs. AFMA continues to work with the fishing industry associations to ensure the cost-effective and efficient fisheries management.

For more information see the 2011-1-2012 AFMA Levy Guide.