Federal Government to ‘modernise’ outdated agricultural levy legislation

Farmers are being urged to provide feedback on a redraft of the 30-year-old legislation underpinning Australia’s agricultural levy system.

The Federal Government has opened consultation on proposed changes to five key Bills as it attempts to “simplify, streamline and modernise” the legislation.

Australia’s agricultural levy system has grown in size and complexity over the past three decades, with more than 50 laws now governing it according to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

A DAFF spokesperson said the new legislation aimed to “provide a simpler, clearer legislative framework so industries can keep benefiting from their investments in research and development, marketing, biosecurity, emergency responses, and residue testing”.

“A critical part of this process is getting input from those with an interest in how levies work,” the spokesperson said.

“These draft Bills build on extensive engagement with industry bodies and research and development corporations over recent years to understand the strengths and weaknesses in the current agricultural levies legislation.

“This consultation will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the proposed draft legislation, understand what is proposed to change and what is not proposed to change, and provide feedback on the proposed Bills and draft legislative framework.”

It comes after the Albanese Government this week announced it would slug all domestic producers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries with a new “biosecurity protection levy”.

Draft regulations and rules underpinning the draft Bills — including the operational details of some, but not all, existing levies and charges — are also open for comment.

The spokesperson said the redraft would “maintain the key features” of the levy system, adding that existing levies would not be changed.

The Bills open for consultation are:

• The Excise Levies Bill, which imposes levies on agricultural commodities produced domestically.
• The Customs Charges Bill, which imposes charges on agricultural commodities that are imported or exported.
• The Services Levies Bill, which enables levies to apply to some agricultural services.
• The Collection Bill, which regulates collection of levies and charges.
• The Disbursement Bill, which disburses collected monies to levy recipient bodies and provides Commonwealth matching funding for eligible research and development expenditure.

Consultation is open until June 5 via the DAFF website.