Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources increase fees

by Val Ellis, noonsite.com on 17 Aug 2016 Once a simple one-off fee, fees for yacht clearance on arrival have now been broken down into separate charges. For most yachts this is an increase of approximately 17.5%. In an effort to be more transparent as to how the clearance charges on yachts is arrived at, AQIS has now broken down the charges it makes for the clearing process. However, the overall effect is an increase of about 17.5% in the total fee paid by most yachts reports noonsite.com.

The fees are listed as follows:

Boats under 25m:

• Arrival fee: $100
• Pratique fee up to 1.5 hours: $380
• Additional inspection (per 15 mins): $45

Boats 25m and over:

• Arrival fee only: $850
• Arrival + up to 2hrs inspection: $1,210

Applicable to all boats (if required):

• In office fee (per 15min): $30
• Out of office fee (per 15min): $50
• Rate per day (7.5hrs): $1000

Overtime rates apply outside working hours (06:30-18.30 Mon-Fri).

World ARC who recently arrived in Australia have reported the following;

'Our cost on World ARC this year averaged A$447 per boat – an increase over the previous fee of 17.5%. We were told that our boats are much better prepared than a typical cruising yacht arrival, and so cruisers can expect to be paying more than our average cost.

Arrival levy

• $100.00

Document assessment

• $30.00 per ¼ hr

Inspection fee

• $50.00 per ¼ hr

There is also a waste disposal fee, which for our fleet averaged A$20/boat'.

For the full details see the official website.

A well prepared boat up to 25m, can expect to pay in the region of $450.

One that is less prepared will require more inspection time, and so will incur a higher cost (officers charge per 15 minutes of their time).