National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Amendment (Registries Modernisation) Act 2020

The National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Amendment (Registries Modernisation) Act 2020 is an amending Act. It changes the National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Act 2009 rather than creating a separate fee regime of its own.

The practical focus of the amendments is registries modernisation. The Act updates the fee framework so that dealings involving the Registrar are brought into the structure alongside ASIC. In particular, it changes the definition of chargeable matter and makes linked changes to liability rules in section 9 of the Fees Act.

That means the Act is not only about whether a fee may apply. It is also about identifying the event that triggers the fee, the person who is liable, and whether the relevant interaction is with ASIC, the Registrar, or both under the amended framework.

For businesses, the key point is that this Act is structural. It changes the legal categories of fee-triggering registry interactions. It does not, by itself, tell you the current dollar amount payable for each interaction, and it does not replace the need to check the current operative law and fee settings before acting.

This Act matters to businesses and advisers that interact with records or information under the National Consumer Credit Protection framework. It is most relevant where a business requests inclusion of information in a record, provides information for inclusion, searches or inspects records, or seeks production of records or information under subpoena.

That can include lenders, brokers, licence applicants, professional advisers, debt recovery operators and technology providers that handle registry interactions as part of a credit-related service. It can also affect businesses that do not make the request themselves but engage an adviser or service provider to do so on their behalf, because the fee consequences may still affect pricing, engagement terms or cost recovery.

Businesses that never deal with these registries may have little day to day exposure. Even so, if your business is involved in licensing, compliance, disputes, due diligence or litigation touching the consumer credit regime, the amendments may still matter at specific points.

The centrepiece of Schedule 1 is the amendment of the definition of chargeable matter in subsection 4(1) of the National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Act 2009. The amendments do several things at once.

First, they refine an existing paragraph so that it refers to a record maintained by ASIC. Secondly, they add a new paragraph covering the inclusion of information in a record maintained by the Registrar under either of the relevant Acts. Thirdly, they add a new paragraph covering the inspection or search of a record maintained or information held by the Registrar under either of those Acts.

The Act also updates another paragraph so that a reference to ASIC becomes a reference to ASIC or the Registrar. It then adds a further chargeable matter for production by the Registrar, under a subpoena, of a record maintained or information held by the Registrar for the purposes of either of those Acts. Additional wording changes replace references such as or ASIC with wording that includes the Registrar as well.

In practical terms, businesses should not assume that only traditional ASIC interactions are relevant. The amended framework is designed to capture a broader set of registry dealings, especially where the Registrar maintains the record or holds the information.

One of the most useful practical parts of the Act is that it does more than add new chargeable matters. It also specifies liability and timing for one of those new matters and extends existing liability rules to the new paragraphs.

The Act inserts a new paragraph 9(ba) for the chargeable matter dealing with inclusion of information in a record maintained by the Registrar. For that matter, the person liable is the person who requests inclusion of the information in the record. If there is no request, the liable person is the person who provides the information. Liability is incurred when the request for inclusion is made, or if there is no request, when the information is provided.

The Act also amends paragraph 9(c) so it applies not only to paragraph (c) chargeable matters but also to paragraph (ca). It amends paragraph 9(e) so it applies not only to paragraph (e) chargeable matters but also to paragraph (ea). It then adds the words or the Registrar at the end of subparagraph 9(e)(ii).

The practical lesson is that a business should not read the new chargeable matter wording in isolation. You also need to read the linked liability provisions in section 9 of the Fees Act as amended. That is especially important if your business uses staff, agents or external advisers to make requests, because the identity of the requester and the timing of the request can affect who bears the fee and when the liability starts.

If you recharge registry costs to clients, it is sensible to make sure your engagement terms, internal approvals and record-keeping processes clearly identify who made the request, on whose behalf it was made, and when it was made.

A repeated feature of the amendments is the insertion of the Registrar alongside ASIC. This is not incidental drafting. It is a core part of how the Act updates the fee framework for registries modernisation.

For businesses, that means older procedures, precedents and compliance notes that refer only to ASIC may now be incomplete. Depending on the record or information involved, the relevant interaction may concern ASIC, the Registrar, or a provision that now expressly covers both.

This does not mean every registry process has changed in the same way. It does mean you should check the legal basis for the interaction you are dealing with. If your team is lodging information, searching records, obtaining extracts or planning subpoena production, confirm whether the relevant record is maintained by ASIC or by the Registrar and whether the amended fee provisions have commenced.

That check matters for legal accuracy, cost planning and client communication. It also helps avoid relying on outdated assumptions about who holds the record and which fee rule applies.

The Act received Royal Assent on 22 June 2020. Under the commencement table, sections 1 to 3 and anything not otherwise covered by the table commenced on that day.

Schedule 1 has a different commencement rule. It commences on a day or days to be fixed by Proclamation. If any of its provisions do not commence before 1 July 2026, they commence on that day.

The compilation information also states that the effect of uncommenced amendments is not shown in the text of the compiled law, and that details of amendments made up to, but not commenced at, the compilation date are identified in the endnotes. The legislation history in the compilation notes that Schedule 1 was awaiting commencement at that point.

This is a critical practical issue. A business should not assume that every amendment described in Schedule 1 is already operative just because the Act itself is in force. Before relying on a particular fee trigger, liability rule or Registrar reference, confirm the current commencement position on the legislation register.

This Act is useful for understanding the legal structure of the fee changes, but it is not the only document you need in practice.

First, confirm whether the relevant Schedule 1 amendments have commenced. Secondly, check the current fee settings because the Act does not state the dollar amounts payable. Thirdly, identify whether the relevant record is maintained by ASIC or by the Registrar, because that affects how the amended provisions apply. Fourthly, review your contracts, engagement letters and client disclosures if you recover registry costs from clients or counterparties. Finally, keep evidence of the date a request was made or information was provided, because liability timing can turn on that event.

If your business is involved in litigation or regulatory disputes, pay particular attention to subpoena-related requests. The Act expressly adds production by the Registrar under subpoena as a chargeable matter, so legal teams should factor that into planning and cost estimates once the relevant provisions are in force.

It is also sensible to read this amendment Act together with the current text of the National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Act 2009, because the practical operation of the fee regime depends on how the amended provisions fit into the broader Act.

A common point of confusion is whether this Act itself imposes a new dollar fee. It does not do that in the text summarised here. Its role is to amend the legal framework for chargeable matters and related liability rules.

Another common issue is commencement. Because Schedule 1 may commence by Proclamation or, failing that, by 1 July 2026, businesses should verify the current position before changing workflows or treating a particular interaction as chargeable under the amended provisions.

Businesses also often ask whether the amendments matter if they deal mainly with ASIC. The answer is yes, because several amendments either add separate Registrar-based chargeable matters or update existing wording so the Registrar is included alongside ASIC. That means older assumptions may no longer be reliable.

Finally, if your business uses external advisers to make registry requests, make sure your documents clearly allocate who bears the cost. The Act contains specific liability rules for some matters, and practical disputes often arise not from the law itself but from unclear commercial arrangements between the parties involved.

This page is based on the Federal Register of Legislation compilation of the National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Amendment (Registries Modernisation) Act 2020, including the commencement table, Schedule 1 amendments and endnotes dealing with compilation status and legislation history.

For practical use, this page should be read together with the current text of the National Consumer Credit Protection (Fees) Act 2009 and the current official materials dealing with fee settings and registry operations.