Fees for apparatus licences

We charge a yearly fee for apparatus licences.

Licence fees include:

• fees for services
• a licence tax.

We adjust our taxes each year.

Different fees apply to commercial broadcasters.

The apparatus licence fee schedule sets out the current fees for apparatus licences.

You should only use the schedule as a guide. You may want to ask an accredited person to help you or get legal advice.

You can also check if you are eligible for a licence fee exemption or concession.

Changes to licence fees

In April 2024, we updated annual licence taxes in line with our population-based methodology. This sets all relevant tax figures to increase by geographically specific population changes. The method is laid out in our August 2023 consultation. It replaces the previous approach that updated tax rates based on inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

In February 2024, we updated the fee schedule to reflect changes to area-wide receive licences and charges for various apparatus licences. Additional information was also added on the availability of several non-assigned stations, given the new class licences made available.

In August 2023, we reduced the annual licence taxes of Television Outside Broadcast Network licences from $415,899 per year to $211,701 per year, as a result of our March consultation.

In June 2023, as part of our proposal to allocate area-wide apparatus licences (AWLs) in the 3.4–4.0 GHz frequency range in remote areas of Australia, we introduced a new AWL tax for the frequency range.

To keep our tax arrangements current we have updated our apparatus licence taxes with new references from the 2016 census to the 2021 census. Transmitter licence tax invoices that fell due on or after 23 November 2022 included these changes.

From 1 October 2022, we updated apparatus licence charges. This resulted from a review of all existing fees for radiocommunications, telecommunications and broadcasting services. You can find more information in the Proposed ACMA fees for service 2022–23 consultation paper.

Apparatus licence fee calculator

Use our apparatus licence fee calculator to estimate the taxes and charges you need to pay. It's quick and easy to use.

Area-wide licence (AWL) calculators

Use our AWL calculators to estimate annual licence taxes.

We’d like to help by giving you the option to pay your renewal fee within 3 months from the expiry of your current licence. 

We can also help you by:

• identifying your licence number
• updating your licence details
• printing and sending a copy of your licence to you

If you require help in arranging the payment option, please contact us. If we don’t hear from you before your licence expires, we’ll contact you to check you still need the licence before it’s cancelled.

Apparatus licences may be for a transmitter or receiver.

We charge a licence tax for all transmitters. We only charge a tax for a receiver if you haven't licensed the transmitter. 

The amount we charge depends on if the licence is an:

• assigned licence
• non-assigned licence
• new licence
• renewal

The amount you need to pay for an assigned licence depends on:

• how many frequencies you need
• the amount of bandwidth
• the frequency
• location of the site
• transmitter power

We base the licence tax on the population density of an area. 

Apparatus licence fee density area maps

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High density—Apparatus licence fee density area maps including Sydney/Wollongong, Melbourne/Geelong and Brisbane/Gold Coast

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Medium density—Apparatus licence fee density area maps including Perth, Adelaide and Newcastle

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Low density—Apparatus licence fee density area maps including East Australia, West Australia, Tasmania and Darwin

The boundaries for density areas are available in:

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Shapefile

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Placemark

We also use these to determine some taxes:

• the Australian Spectrum Map Grid (ASMG)
• hierarchical cell identification scheme

More information is in the licence fee schedule.

You have 45 days to pay your invoice.

If you don’t pay on time, we may refuse your application or renewal. We may also give your frequency to someone else.

You can appeal our decision.

If you give up your licence, we may refund part of your licence fee. We do this automatically.

As stated above, If you’re unable to pay for your licence renewal because you or your business have been impacted by circumstances beyond your control (e.g., natural disaster), you can apply to defer your fee.

This legislation helps us determine how we charge for apparatus licences:

• Radiocommunications Act 1992
• Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Act 1983
• Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Determination 2015
• Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Act 1983
• Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Determination 2015
• Radiocommunications Licence Conditions (Apparatus Licence) Determination 2015
• Radiocommunications (Specified Radiocommunications Receivers and Types of Transmitter and Receiver Licences) Determination 2014
• Radiocommunications (Interpretation) Determination 2015
• Radiocommunications Taxes Collection Act 1983
• Radiocommunications Taxes Collection Regulations 1985
• Radiocommunications Taxes Collection (Penalties on Unpaid Tax) Determination 2015
• Radiocommunications (Charges) Determination 2022

If you have questions about licence fees, call our customer service centre on 1300 850 115 or email us.