The bill retrospectively validates the amounts of certain review fees charged by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) between 1 July 2011 and 11 March 2025, confirming they were lawfully authorised and aligned with the intended policy settings.
This technical measure corrects an indexation error affecting late fees, 10-year upfront fees and special purpose company review fees under the Corporations (Review Fees) Act 2003.
The Corporations (Review Fees) Amendment (Technical Amendments) Bill 2025 amends the Corporations (Review Fees) Act 2003 by inserting a new section 7A into Schedule 1 that validates certain review fees already collected by ASIC for the period from 1 July 2011 to 11 March 2025. Following the 2011 amending Regulations, an unintended indexation methodology applied to some fees (late fees, 10-year upfront fees and special purpose company fees), resulting in incorrect charges. The 2025 amending Regulations corrected the rates prospectively, but did not address past collections.
Under the Bill:
The Bill commences the day after Royal Assent, has no financial impact on the Budget and imposes no new compliance costs.
Legal Certainty and Rule of Law
Retrospective validation of the fees ensures that businesses and other entities can rely on ASIC’s charges without fear of future legal challenge or uncertainty. By confirming that past fees were lawfully authorised, the Bill upholds the rule of law and avoids costly disputes over retrospective liabilities [Judgment].
Technical Correction with No Cost Impact
This measure simply aligns statutory authority with the Government’s original policy intent and the long-standing fee structure applied since 2011. There is no additional levy on entities, no alteration of fee levels and no budgetary impact, making it a proportionate and narrowly tailored fix.
Continuity for Affected Entities
Entities remain in the same position they have occupied for over a decade. This continuity is essential for business planning and administrative simplicity, and it prevents the administrative burden that would arise from reopening a decade of filings for recalculation or refund.
Precedent for Retrospective Lawmaking
Even though the Bill imposes no new charges, it normalises retrospective amendments to validate administrative errors. This risks lowering the barrier to future retroactive lawmaking and may erode confidence that Parliament will only apply changes prospectively [Judgment].
Insufficient Scrutiny of Indexation Error
The Bill treats the original indexation error as a mere technicality, yet does not require any review of whether affected entities were undercharged or overcharged. A better approach might have been a targeted audit or an expedited refund mechanism for those overcharged.
2025-10-09
House of Representatives
Before House of Representatives
Unspecified
Treasury
Financial Regulation, Taxation