Customs Amendment
Current status
This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Policy area
Immigration, border & security
What does this bill do?
Australia's customs law would be tidied up by deleting one repeated definition, without changing how goods are imported or exported.
Why was it introduced?
The Customs Act contained two definitions of export entry adviceThe export notice mentioned in the customs law; this bill would remove the older duplicate version of that term., leaving one outdated and redundant definition in the law. This bill removes the older duplicate definition to tidy the Act and keep only the current meaning.
Broader context
Australia’s customs system was already governed by the Customs Act 1901The main law that sets Australia’s customs rules for importing and exporting goods., but by 2022 that law still carried two definitions of “export entry adviceThe export notice mentioned in the customs law; this bill would remove the older duplicate version of that term.”, leaving an older definition sitting beside the current one while border and trade rules were being updated and simplified in other areas. The government responded by introducing the Customs Amendment Bill 2022The proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. as a narrow housekeeping change to delete the redundant definition, but the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. did not pass and lapsed when Parliament was dissolved on 28 March 2025.
Key criticism
No significant public case against the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. is recorded so far. The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. appears to make only a narrow drafting fix by removing a duplicate, outdated customs definition without changing import or export rules. Publicly available sources point to a technical housekeeping measure, and no party, watchdog, or industry group is shown raising a substantive objection to the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. itself.
Who supported it?
The government introduced this bill.
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
976 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
What does this bill do?
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Australia's customs law would be tidied up by deleting one repeated definition, without changing how goods are imported or exported.
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The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. would remove one of the two meanings for 'export entry adviceThe export notice mentioned in the customs law; this bill would remove the older duplicate version of that term.' in the customs law, so the law keeps only one definition for that export notice.
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The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. would delete the older 'Export entry adviceThe export notice mentioned in the customs law; this bill would remove the older duplicate version of that term.' definition because it is outdated and no longer needed in the Customs Act 1901The main law that sets Australia’s customs rules for importing and exporting goods..
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The change would start the day after Royal AssentThe point when a bill becomes law after it is approved by the Governor-General., so the duplicate definition would be removed straight after the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. becomes law.
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The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. would not have any direct budget cost, because the explanatory memorandumThe accompanying note that explains what the bill does, why it was introduced, and whether it has a financial impact. says it has no specific financial impact.
Show source excerpts
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The Customs Amendment Bill 2022 (the Bill) would amend the Customs Act 1901 (the Customs Act) to make a minor technical amendment to remove a duplicate definition.
Customs Amendment explanatory memorandum -
The Customs Act contains two definitions of export entry advice. This Bill would repeal one of the definitions.
Customs Amendment explanatory memorandum -
The definition of Export entry advice was contained in the Act first. The definition of export entry advice was inserted into the Act by item 52 of Schedule 3 to the Customs Legislation Amendment and Repeal (International Trade Modernisation) Act 2001. Item 62 of Schedule 3 to that Act remade section 114C, which deals with export entry advice, and included language of Customs “giving” an export entry advice, consistently with the definition of export entry advice. The definition of Export entry advice would be repealed by item 1 of Schedule 1 to the Bill, as the definition is out of date and redundant.
Customs Amendment explanatory memorandum -
Item 1 of the table would provide for the whole of the Act to commence on the day after it receives the Royal Assent.
Customs Amendment explanatory memorandum -
There are no specific financial implications resulting from the Bill.
Customs Amendment explanatory memorandum
Context
Broader context for this bill
Australia’s customs system was already governed by the Customs Act 1901The main law that sets Australia’s customs rules for importing and exporting goods., but by 2022 that law still carried two definitions of “export entry adviceThe export notice mentioned in the customs law; this bill would remove the older duplicate version of that term.”, leaving an older definition sitting beside the current one while border and trade rules were being updated and simplified in other areas. The government responded by introducing the Customs Amendment Bill 2022The proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. as a narrow housekeeping change to delete the redundant definition, but the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. did not pass and lapsed when Parliament was dissolved on 28 March 2025.
- 01 Jan 2022
New Harmonized SystemThe international goods classification system that can trigger customs law and system updates. changes begin updating customs law and systems
The Australian Border Force said the 2022 Harmonized SystemThe international goods classification system that can trigger customs law and system updates. changes would require amendments to customs legislation and departmental systems from the start of 2022.
Australian Border Force ↗ - 05 Apr 2022
Flags regulations streamline one import process under customs law
New regulations changed customs rules for goods bearing state or territory arms, flags or seals to streamline imports and reduce regulatory burden.
Australian Border Force ↗ - 26 July 2022
Government introduces the Customs Amendment Bill 2022The proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition.
The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. was introduced to remove one of the two definitions of “export entry adviceThe export notice mentioned in the customs law; this bill would remove the older duplicate version of that term.” in the Customs Act 1901The main law that sets Australia’s customs rules for importing and exporting goods. because it was a duplicate technical provision.
Parliamentary timeline ↗ - 09 Sept 2022
Trade simplification push highlights the cost of border paperwork
The Australian Financial Review reported that a broader drive to simplify trade administration aimed to cut regulatory costs tied to thousands of border paperwork requirements.
Australian Financial Review ↗ - 28 Mar 2025
Customs Amendment Bill 2022The proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. lapses at dissolution
Because the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. had not completed its passage through Parliament, it fell away when the House was dissolved ahead of the 2025 election.
Parliamentary timeline ↗
Legislative route
How did it move through Parliament?
Introduced 26 July 2022
The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
Scrutiny of Bills review 07 Sept 2022
The scrutiny committee listed the Customs Amendment Bill 2022The proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. among bills on which it had no comment.
No comment
Scrutiny Digest 4 of 2022Human Rights review 07 Sept 2022
The human rights committee did not raise a human-rights concern about the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition..
No comment
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Report 3 of 2022Lapsed at dissolution 28 Mar 2025
The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Key criticism
The main case against this bill
No significant public case against the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. is recorded so far. The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. appears to make only a narrow drafting fix by removing a duplicate, outdated customs definition without changing import or export rules. Publicly available sources point to a technical housekeeping measure, and no party, watchdog, or industry group is shown raising a substantive objection to the billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. itself.
Any concern appears limited to ordinary drafting accuracy, not opposition to the policy change.
Votes
Recorded votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Who spoke, and what they said
No speeches were found for this bill.
Record
Full record
- Status
- Not Proceeding -- Collected from the APH bill page.
- Originating house
- House of Representatives
- 26 July 2022
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
- 28 Mar 2025
House · Lapsed at dissolution
Lapsed at dissolution
The billThe proposed change to the customs law that would remove one outdated duplicate definition. reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
No comment
The scrutiny committee listed the Customs Amendment Bill 2022 among bills on which it had no comment.
The committee considered the bill in Scrutiny Digest 4 of 2022 and made no comment.
Scrutiny Digest 4 of 2022Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights
No comment
The human rights committee did not raise a human-rights concern about the bill.
The human rights committee included the bill in Report 3 of 2022 with no comment.
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights Report 3 of 2022