Inquiry into the provisions of the Trade Practices Amendment (National Access Regime) Bill 2005
Terms of reference
On 15 June 2005, the Senate referred the provisions of the Trade Practices Amendment (National Access Regime) Bill 2005 to the Committee for inquiry and report by 5 September 2005. The bill implements the Government’s response to the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry Report No. 17, Review of the National Access Regime.
The National Access Regime regulates access to major infrastructure such as gas pipelines and rail networks. It comprises two key components: a legislative framework contained in Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974; and Clause 6 of the 1995 Competition Principles Agreements negotiated between the Commonwealth, state and territory governments.
The bill makes amendments to the Trade Practices Act 1974 that aim to:
- clarify the Regime's objectives and scope;
- encourage efficient investment in new infrastructure;
- strengthen incentives for commercial negotiation; and
- improve the certainty, transparency and accountability of regulatory processes.
In particular, the bill:
- inserts a new objects clause into Part IIIA;
- enables the Commonwealth Minister to determine pricing principles;
- amends the 'promote competition' declaration criteria;
- introduces new arbitration requirements;
- enables access providers to lodge post-declaration undertakings;
- prohibits access undertakings where an effective access regime exists;
- allows immunity from declaration for services provided by certain government-sponsored infrastructure;
- establishes new appeal rights for access undertakings and access codes;
- introduces a number of non-binding time limits to various decisions under Part IIIA;
- allows for public input on certain decisions;
- requires that reasons for decisions and recommendations are published;
- expedites extensions of certifications, access undertakings and access codes; and
- introduces new reporting requirements on the National Competition Council and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Written submissions are invited and should be sent to:
The Secretary,
Senate Economics Legislation Committee,
Suite SG.64,
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600.
The closing date for submissions is Friday, 29 July 2005.
The Committee requests that where possible, submissions should also be provided by email to economics.sen@aph.gov.au, preferably as MS Word 97 or RTF format documents. Notes to assist in preparing submissions are available from the website https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm or the Secretariat (ph: 02 6277 3540, fax: 02 6277 5719, e-mail economics.sen@aph.gov.au).
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee’s permission. If you do, it is not protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
If you need any further information, contact Mr Peter Hallahan, Committee Secretary, on (02) 6277 3540 (phone), (02) 6277 5719 (fax) or by email to economics.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to the Parliament House TTY number (02) 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. These tools are available at: http://access.adobe.com/. If you require any special arrangements in order to enable you to participate in a committee inquiry, please contact the committee secretary.
For further information, contact:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Economics
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia