60BDirector-General may recover certain costs

1. The Director-General, after—

2. any person to whom section 60A applies, has—
   1. considered whether or not to give, grant, issue, make, or reach any approval, authority, concession, concurrence, consent, decision, licence, permission, permit, or waiver, or to take or undertake any similar action (whether or not the consideration has been concluded); or
   2. given, granted, issued, made, or reached any approval, authority, concession, concurrence, consent, decision, licence, permission, permit, or waiver, or taken or undertaken any similar action; or
   3. refused to give, grant, issue, make, or reach any approval, authority, concession, concurrence, consent, decision, licence, permission, permit, or waiver, or to take or undertake any similar action; or
3. the Minister has considered whether or not to recommend to the Governor-General the making of any Order in Council (whether or not the consideration has been concluded),—
(whether under this Act or any other enactment, or otherwise howsoever) may require any person who applied for or otherwise requested the approval, authority, concession, concurrence, consent, decision, licence, order, permission, permit, waiver, or action concerned, or who applied for or otherwise requested any thing for which it was necessary, to pay to the Director-General all or any part the Director-General thinks fit of the direct and indirect costs to the Department of dealing with it (or, as the case requires, dealing with as much of it as has then been dealt with); and in that case—
4. that latter person shall, within 28 days of receiving from the Director-General a written demand in that behalf, pay those costs or that part accordingly; and
5. the Director-General may, on behalf of the Minister, recover those costs or that part as a debt due to the Crown by that latter person.

6. Subsection (1) shall have effect whether or not any person was under a duty imposed by any enactment or by law to take or undertake the action concerned.

7. The Director-General may, in the Director-General's absolute discretion, refund or waive payment of all or any part of any sum paid or required to be paid pursuant to this section.

8. Where any person applies to a person to whom section 60A applies for, or otherwise requests from any such person,—

9. any approval, authority, concession, concurrence, consent, decision, licence, order, permission, permit, waiver, or other action, in respect of which the Director-General is empowered by subsection (1) to recover any costs; or
10. any thing for which any such action is necessary,—
the person to whom the section applies shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that—
11. the other person is informed of the general effect of the subsection in relation to the action or thing applied for or requested; and
12. until the other person has been so informed, no further costs to the Department are incurred other than the cost of so informing the other person.

13. Subject to subsection (6), on application in that behalf, any person to whom section 60A applies shall give to the applicant the person's best estimate of the costs likely to be required under this section to be paid by the applicant in respect of any specified matter.

14. A person to whom section 60A applies may refuse to give an estimate under subsection (5) unless paid the reasonable costs to the Department of causing it to be prepared.

15. No person shall be bound by an estimate given under subsection (5).

16. Notwithstanding subsection (2), nothing in this section shall apply to any application or inquiry made under the Ombudsmen Act 1975 or the Official Information Act 1982.