Charging Policy terms | Department of Finance

Definitions

activity	activity is a term with multiple means, including describing an action that is occurring or to occur, or the doing of something, for a purpose¹. What the word activity may refer to in a Government decision is contextual to the situation, entity and the policy.
the activity	the activity is the general name used in policy papers, budget decisions and reviews, usually for a specific thing that is being done (the effort) by an entity to achieve a Government decision. It creates either: a single output; a number of outputs; or a whole organisation’s output. Despite the singular reference of “the activity”, the “action” (effort) that is occurring, or will occur, will vary in scale, complexity and sensitivity with the context. For the purposes of costing and pricing consistent with the Charging Policy, ‘the activity’ is the name for the doing/delivering an output (singular) to the non-government sector that will or may be charged for. A Charging Model of the ‘the activity’ will contain one or more of these outputs. For the purpose of reporting in both a Regulatory Charging Statement and a Portfolio Charging Review (PCR), ‘the activity’ refers to the name given by a Government decision to the act of delivering a program, function or an entity’s purpose. The scale and nature of the program(s) or function(s) within in ‘the activity’ will vary in scale and may encompass the whole entity. The Charging Model’s aggregated outcomes of cost, revenue and output will align to the Government decision for the activity (group).
Business cycle for the activity	the number of years over which specific assets used by the activity that is charged for are depreciated to zero. Where justified, the length of a business cycle may be a longer period than the Budget and forward years, as appropriate for the relevant asset.
charging	the act of demanding a price (in money) for goods, services, or regulatory output by a Commonwealth Government entity, from the non-government sector, in a manner consistent with the relevant Government policy and charging decision, that results in an invoice to an individual, business or not for profit.
charging model	the combination of the costing model and the pricing model for outputs from the activity (Government decision). It shows the relationship between the cost and price of each output of the activity. The use of the information in, or developed for, a cost, price or charging model that is consistent with this policy, for any other purpose including management and budgets, is outside the scope of this policy.
charging policy	the policy of the Australian Government that sets its expectation of how charging to the non-government sector must be approached by in-scope Australian Government Non-Corporate and Corporate Commonwealth entities.
Charging risk assessment (CRA)	a tool that helps to identify areas of implementation risk of a level and approach to charging for regulatory activity. It informs the charging risk engagement strategy adopted by an entity and whether the Minister of Finance must also agree to the publication of the Regulatory Charging Statement.
commercial activity	activities where the Government is providing products or services to the non-government sector in a market, where there are actual or potential competitors. i.e. Government supply is not the only option. For the non-government sector, engagement with the Government for a commercial activity is not imposed by law. Any charging arrangement is by contract, which will include specific requirements for both parties. There is discretion available to the individuals, businesses or not-for-profits to engage and over all clauses and warranties of the arrangement.
commercial charge	a charge for an output from a commercial activity
cost model	the model of the processes or tasks of an activity, showing the combination of the input elements of time, materials, capability and effort for each output of the activity, then combined with the cost of these inputs, in order to forecast that cost of an output.
cost recovery	the activity of charging to recover some or all of the cost of an activity. It involves Commonwealth entities (on behalf of the Australian Government) charging the non-government sector some or all of the costs of a government activity. The expression of cost recovery may reference recovering the costs to an output of an activity, an activity, a program or entity. The recovery of cost may be achieved by charging one or a combination of: a tax; fees; or amounts under contract. It may be for an activity that is within-scope of the Australian Government Charging Framework or not. Where the activity is within the Australian Government Charging Framework and the activity is a regulatory activity, ‘cost recovery’ occurs at the activity output level, where the price charged may not exceed the cost of the output.
effectiveness of charging	relates to whether the charging achieves its policy objectives.
efficient charge	the price point at which the desired outcomes of charging, the policy objectives of the activity and other legal and policy objectives of the Australian Government, are together maximised The price point that represents the point of most efficient charging will vary over time with the mix of actual inputs, processes and outcomes.
efficient costs	the lowest cost of effort necessary to provide an output of an activity, while also achieving the quality, policy objectives of the charging, the policy objectives of the activity and any other legal and policy objectives, as agreed to in the charging decision made by the Government.
Efficient to charge	whether it is appropriate to set up a charging system given the total cost of the activity, including the cost of the charging system, and how much of this total cost may be charged for, after all other considerations are addressed. The “efficient to charge” price point will be relative to considerations including whether the purpose(s) for the activity and charging are achieved by a level of price. Whether this price is less than, the same as or more than the cost of administering the charge is a mathematical proportion and will vary from situation to situation. The size of this proportion is not of itself a reason not to charge. i.e. that the cost of administration of the charge is far greater than the cost of the activity is not the focus, rather whether the purpose of the charging is optimised.
government policy order	an order made by the Finance Minister under the PGPA Act that specifies a policy of the Australian Government that is to apply in relation to one or more corporate Commonwealth entities (section 22(1)) or wholly-owned Commonwealth companies (section 93(1)).
individual	a single person, business or not for profit entity, as recognised in law.
non-regulatory activity	the collective term for all commercial and resource activity
non-regulatory charge	the charge for an output of a non-regulatory activity
price model	the model of how costs for an output are processed to achieve the price structure for each output that is the most appropriate and most likely to achieve: the policy objectives for charging; policy objectives for the activity and broader Government policy settings.
Regulatory Charging Statement (RCS)	a reporting tool for documenting regulatory charging design, operation and reporting. Replaces the Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS).
regulatory activity	activities that are imposed by law on the individuals and groups that they otherwise would not have done. There is a statutory obligation placed on the individual, business or not for profit to engage in and conduct activity of a particular type and standard. There is no discretion available to the individuals or groups regarding doing the activity or how the activity is done.
regulatory charge	a statutory government charge imposed on an individual, business or not for profit as part of the requirements of a regulation. Legislation is always required for these charges. The charge is for an output of a regulatory activity. The charge amount may be set by a number or formula or list of criteria, in legislation, a legislative instrument or a tax Act. The amount of the charge for an output may not exceed the efficient cost of the effort done to deliver the output.
regulated group	the group identified in the primary legislation that as subject to the regulation.
resource activity	activities that involve the provision of specific rights, privileges, and access to public resources or services by the Government to the non-government sector, that only the Government may provide Engagement with the Government for a resource activity is not imposed by law, but the Government is the sole reasonable supplier. Any charging arrangement is by contract. There is discretion available to the individual, business or not-for-profit about whether to engage or not. Some clauses and warranties of the arrangement may be varied (there is discretion) and others may not be negotiable (there is not discretion) i.e. the contract may have aspects set in legislation or legislative instruments, over which there is not discretion to negotiate.
resource charge	a charge for the output of resource activity.
taxation	a type of government charge, usually defined as ‘a compulsory exaction of money by a public authority for public purposes, enforceable by law’.² All types of taxation are imposed by a tax Acts³, in accordance with the Australian constitutional requirements. ‘general taxation’ is a type of taxation, raise on a board section of or all the population AASB15 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers’ & “GFS: tests for a tax treatment” define the characteristics of amounts that are considered ‘general taxation’.

Macquarie Dictionary, 2026
Matthews v Chicory Marketing Board (Vict.) – [1938] HCA 60 CLR 263.
Taxation and Tax Acts are the responsibility of the Department of Treasury. Where a charge is enabled by a tax Act, the Department of the Treasury must be consulted to determine the type of taxation and associated requirements.