The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Act 2010 (CACS Act) removes the access dispute provisions from the Trade Practices Act 1974 from 1 January 2011.

However, the transitional provisions of the CACS Act enable a party to still notify an access dispute to the ACCC in relation to a declared service, until a final access determination is made.

The ACCC may decide to publish an interim or final determination that it has made in an arbitration. A statement of reasons for the determination may also be published.

Under the Trade Practices Act 1974, where the ACCC proposes to publish a determination, we must consult with the parties to that arbitration. Each party has 14 days to provide a written submission identifying any parts that should not be published along with the party’s reasons for that view.

The legislation also provides that when making its decision to publish a determination the ACCC must consider:

  • submissions from the parties
  • whether publication would be likely to promote competition in markets for listed carriage services
  • whether publication would be likely to facilitate the operation of Part XIC of the Act, and
  • any other matter the ACCC considers relevant.

The ACCC has decided to publish the following determinations.