Travel Agents Regulations 2013

Travel Agents Regulations 2013

I, the Governor in and over the State of Tasmania and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, make the following regulations under the Travel Agents Act 1987 .

16 December 2013

PETER G. UNDERWOOD

Governor

By His Excellency's Command,

NICK McKIM

Minister for Corrections and Consumer Protection

1.   Short title

These regulations may be cited as the Travel Agents Regulations 2013 .

2.   Commencement

These regulations take effect on 24 December 2013.

3.   Interpretation

In these regulations –

Act means the Travel Agents Act 1987 ;

Category A business means any business involving the sale of tickets, or the arrangement of rights of passage, for international travel or international travel and accommodation;

Category B business means any business, other than Category A business, involving the sale of tickets, or the arrangement of rights of passage, for any travel or travel and accommodation;

international travel means travel by any form of transport to a place outside Australia.

4.   Conveyances to which section 4 does not apply

For the purposes of sections 4(1)(a) and (c) of the Act, a prescribed conveyance is a conveyance that is used for the purpose of carrying passengers to and from a place on the same day.

5.   Applications for licences

For the purposes of section 19(4) of the Act, an application for a licence is to include the following additional matters:

(a) the date of registration, under the Business Names Registration Act 2011 of the Commonwealth, of any business name under which the applicant proposes to carry on business;

(b) a description of the proposed business;

(c) if the applicant or proposed partner of the applicant is an individual, the date, place of birth and, if applicable, the maiden name of the applicant;

(d) if the applicant or proposed partner of the applicant is a corporation, the name and the maiden name if applicable, address, and date and place of birth of each person who, within the meaning of the Corporations Act, is a director, secretary or executive officer of the corporation;

(e) the name and the maiden name if appropriate of, and the date and place of birth of, any person the applicant proposes to have in charge of the day-to-day conduct of business at any place at which the applicant proposes to carry on business in compliance with section 40 of the Act;

(f) a statement of whether or not the applicant or any person specified in paragraph (e) is a person who –

(i) at any time, has been convicted of an offence specified in Schedule 1 ; or

(ii) at the time of making the application, was bound in relation to an offence referred to in Schedule 1 by a recognisance; or

(iii) has been refused a licence under this Act or a corresponding Act; or

(iv) has been the subject of action that, under a corresponding Act, had an effect similar to the effect of action under section 33(1)(a) , (b) , (c) , (d) or (g) of the Act;

(g) particulars of courses completed by, and the qualifications held and experience of, any person specified in paragraph (e) ;

(h) the particulars relating to the membership of a person specified in paragraph (e) in any professional association if that person is a member of such an association;

(i) particulars of all applications, by the applicant, to contribute to the compensation scheme.

6.   Licence conditions

(1)  For the purposes of section 22(2)(b) of the Act, it is a condition of a licence that a person carrying on business in partnership must pay an additional fee to the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading if the person intends to carry on business –

(a) otherwise than in that partnership; and

(b) at a place or places different from the place at which the person is already carrying on business in that partnership.

(2)  A fee payable under subregulation (1)  –

(a) must be paid before commencing to carry on business as referred to in subregulation (1)(a); and

(b) is to be an amount equal to the prescribed fee that would be payable by the person if he or she were not already carrying on business in partnership.

7.   Particulars of person in charge

For the purposes of section 26(3) of the Act, the prescribed particulars required to be notified under that section for a person proposed to be in charge of the day-to-day conduct of business at a place of business are the matters specified in paragraphs (e) , (f) , (g) and (h) of regulation 5 .

8.   Register of licences

For the purposes of section 27(2) of the Act, the prescribed particulars to be contained in the register of holders of licences kept by the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading are –

(a) the name of the holder of each licence; and

(b) the licence number of that licence; and

(c) the date on which that licence was granted; and

(d) the conditions and restrictions, if any, to which that licence is subject; and

(e) the name and address of any partner, who is an individual, of the holder of that licence; and

(f) if the holder of that licence or a partner of the holder of the licence is a corporation, the address of its registered office and the names, maiden names, if applicable, and addresses of each person who, within the meaning of the Corporations Act, is a director, secretary or executive officer of the corporation; and

(g) the name under which the holder of that licence carries on business as a travel agent.

9.   Form of notice to be displayed under section 37(1)

For the purposes of section 37(1) of the Act –

(a) the prescribed form of notice is a notice in the form set out below, but having the minimum dimensions of 200 millimetres by 200 millimetres, and in the colours respectively indicated on the image below; and

(b) the prescribed particulars are those specified in that form of notice.

10.   Qualifications of person in charge

(1)  For the purposes of section 40(1) of the Act, the prescribed qualifications for a person in charge of the day-to-day conduct of Category A business at a place at which the holder of a licence carries on Category A business are the qualifications set out in Schedule 2 .

(2)  For the purposes of section 40(1) of the Act, there are no prescribed qualifications for the person in charge of the day-to-day conduct of a Category B business at a place at which the holder of a licence carries on Category B business.

11.   Compensation scheme

(1)  For the purposes of the definition of compensation scheme in the Act, the scheme prescribed under section 55(2)(m) of the Act is the compensation scheme contained in the Deed of Trust made on 12 December 1986 by Deirdre Mary Grusovin, Peter Cornelis Spyker, Christopher John Sumner and Keith James Wilson, as amended from time to time, of which a copy of the version in force as at 1 January 2004 is set out, by way of illustration only, in Schedule 3 .

(2)  The Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading is to –

(a) keep and maintain a copy of the compensation scheme as amended from time to time; and

(b) make the copy available for inspection by any person.

12.   Fees

(1)  The fees specified in Schedule 4 are prescribed as the fees payable in respect of the matters to which they respectively relate.

(2)  If the prescribed fee payable under section 29(1) of the Act relates to 2 or more persons who carry on business in partnership with each other, that fee is to be paid on the anniversary of the date, or the earlier or earliest of the dates, on which, at the commencement of the carrying on of the business in partnership, licences had been granted to the partners in the business, whether or not all those persons were partners at that date.

SCHEDULE 1 - Offences

Regulation 5(f)(i)

An offence –

(a) against this Act; or

(b) involving dishonesty or fraud, whether committed in this State or elsewhere; or

(c) involving violence, whether committed in this State or elsewhere; or

(d) under Part V of the Poisons Act 1971 or a similar offence under the law of another State or a Territory of the Commonwealth; or

(e) relating to the possession and use of a firearm, or any other weapon, that would disqualify the applicant from holding a licence under the Firearms Act 1996 ; or

(f) whether committed in this State or elsewhere, where the person –

(i) is convicted of an offence, or offences, and is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of, or terms totalling, 3 years or more; or

(ii) is sentenced to a period of detention for 3 years or more under a restriction order made under section 75(1)(e) of the Sentencing Act 1997 or an equivalent order elsewhere.

SCHEDULE 2 - Qualifications

Regulation 10(1)

1.   The prescribed qualifications for a person in charge of the day-to-day conduct of Category A business at a place at which the holder of a licence carries on Category A business are –

(a) the successful achievement of Unit of Competence SITTTSL310 (Construct Normal International Airfares) delivered or assessed by a registered training organisation within the meaning of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 of the Commonwealth; or

(b) one year of full-time experience, or part-time experience or a combination of full-time and part-time experience equalling one year of full-time experience, gained in the preceding 5 years –

(i) in the sale of tickets, or the arrangement of rights of passage, for international travel or international travel and accommodation; or

(ii) as a person in charge of the day-to-day conduct of a place of business of a licensed travel agent in a State or Territory selling tickets, or arranging rights of passage, for international travel or international travel and accommodation.

SCHEDULE 3 - Deed of Trust

Regulation 11(1)

SCHEDULE 4 - Fees

Regulation 12(1)

Displayed and numbered in accordance with the Rules Publication Act 1953.

Notified in the Gazette on 18 December 2013

These regulations are administered in the Department of Justice.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the regulation)

These regulations –

(a) make provision for the following matters under the Travel Agents Act 1987 :

(i) certain licensing, qualifications, particulars, and administrative requirements;

(ii) the compensation scheme established for the purposes of the Act;

(iii) certain fees payable under the Act; and

(b) are made consequentially on the repeal of the Travel Agents Regulations 2003 under section 11 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1992 .