Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (COMPETITION AND CONSUMER) BILL 2019

                                                                                        QL159

                                          2019-2020

           THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

                                        THE SENATE

TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (COMPETITION AND
                   CONSUMER) BILL 2019

                 SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

                   Amendments to be moved on behalf of the Government

The purpose of these amendments is to fine tune one aspect of the operation of the proposed
statutory infrastructure provider (SIP) standards and rules in the broader regulatory hierarchy
under Part XIC of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) and to change the
designated start date for the Regional Broadband Scheme (RBS) to 1 January 2021, instead of
the first 1 July following the Royal Assent of the Bill.

Amendments (1) and (2)

Division 2, Part 1 of Schedule 3 to the Bill currently provides that SIP standards or rules made
by the Minister would prevail over access determinations or binding rules of conduct (BROC)
made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) after the
commencement of Part 1 of Schedule 3 to the Bill, to the extent of any inconsistency. It is
possible that there could be access determinations or BROCs made before the commencement
of that Part which are inconsistent with a SIP standard or rule. In order to preserve the
regulatory hierarchy primacy of ministerial SIP standards and rules, Amendment (1) would
remove the words "made after the commencement of this section" from proposed section
152BCCA of the CCA (item 1 of Division 2) to ensure that the SIP standards and rules in
force at a particular time will prevail over an inconsistent access determination regardless of
when the access determination was made. Amendment (2) would make a similar amendment
to proposed 152BDCB of the CCA (item 2 of Division 2) to make sure that the SIP standards
and rules in force at a particular time would prevail over inconsistent BROCs regardless of
when the rules were made.

Amendments (3) would provide for the deferral of the commencement of the RBS to
1 January 2021 by replacing the proposed definition of 'designated start date' under proposed
section 76 (item 13 of Schedule 4 to the Bill) with a new definition to mean 1 January 2021.
This change would provide additional time for the implementation of the RBS by carriers and
regulators, and to provide certainty for carriers and regulators given the impact of COVID-19
on the telecommunications industry.

Amendments (4) and (5) are consequential to Amendment (3). Amendment (4) inserts a new
definition of the term, 'financial year' in proposed section 76 to specify that the meaning of
that term is affected by section 78A. Amendment (5) would add a new subsection 78A stating
that the 6-month period beginning on the designated start date is taken to be a financial year
for the purposes of the RBS.



  (Circulated by authority of the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts)