Commonwealth of Australia Explanatory Memoranda

[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]

TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (UNIVERSAL SERVICE REFORM) BILL 2011

                              2010-2011-2012


   THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA


                              THE SENATE




TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (UNIVERSAL
             SERVICE REFORM) BILL 2011




       SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM




           Amendments to be moved on behalf of the Government




   (Circulated by authority of the Minister for Broadband, Communications
     and the Digital Economy, Senator the Honourable Stephen Conroy)
        TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT
            (UNIVERSAL SERVICE REFORM) BILL 2011


                                         OUTLINE

The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Service Reform) Bill 2011 (the
Bill) forms part of a package of legislation to achieve continuity of key telecommunications
safeguards in the transition to the National Broadband Network. This package of legislation
provides for, among other things, the establishment of the Telecommunications Universal
Service Management Agency (TUSMA) as the statutory agency that will have the
responsibility for the effective implementation and administration of service agreements that
deliver universal service and other public policy telecommunications outcomes.

The Bill makes consequential amendments to telecommunications and related legislation
(including the Telecommunications Act 1997 (the Act)), under which the Minister may permit
regulatory universal service obligation (USO) requirements to be progressively lifted from
Telstra Corporation Limited, and to reflect the shift in responsibility to TUSMA for the
delivery of universal service outcomes and other public interest services.

Part 13 of the Act prohibits the disclosure or use by eligible persons of certain information or
documents relating to carriage service provider communications or the affairs or personal
particulars of another person. An exception to the primary disclosure/use offence is if the
disclosure may assist the ACMA, the ACCC or the Telecommunications Industry
Ombudsman (TIO) to carry out their respective functions or powers (or in the case of the
TIO, assist in the consideration of a complaint). The proposed amendments to the Bill extend
this exception to apply to when the disclosure is made to TUSMA and the information or
documents may assist TUSMA in carrying out its statutory functions and powers.

The amendment is intended to facilitate TUSMA's achievement of its public interest
telecommunications policy objectives by allowing persons to disclose information or
documents to TUSMA where those information or documents would assist TUSMA in
carrying out its contract- and grant-related functions and powers. Following the lifting of
USO regulation in accordance with the Bill, the amendment to Part 13 of the Act will allow
for the continued flow of USO-related information to TUSMA as the statutory agency with
responsibility for universal service and other public interest telecommunications outcomes.

                           FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT

The amendments are not expected to have any material financial impact for the
Commonwealth.




                                               2
                                    ABBREVIATIONS


The following abbreviations are used in this supplementary explanatory memorandum:

ACCC:                        Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

ACMA:                        Australian Communications and Media Authority

Bill:                        Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal
                             Service Reform) Bill 2011

NBN:                         National Broadband Network

NBN Co:                      NBN Co Limited

TIO:                         Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman

TUSMA:                       Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency

TUSMA Bill:                  Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency
                             Bill 2011


                              NOTES ON AMENDMENTS

                                     AMENDMENT (1)

This amendment inserts new items 28A to 28E into the Bill.
Item 28A - Section 284 (heading)
Item 28B - At the end of section 284

These items amend section 284 of the Act by replacing the heading and inserting a proposed
new subsection 284(4).
Section 284 of the Act exempts persons from the prohibition in sections 276 and 277 relating
to the disclosure of certain information or a document where the disclosure is made to:

    ·   the ACMA (or a member of its staff) and the disclosure may assist the ACMA to
        carry out its functions or powers;
    ·   the ACCC (or a member of its staff) and the disclosure may assist the ACCC to carry
        out its telecommunications functions or powers; or
    ·   the TIO (or to an employee of the TIO) and the disclosure may assist the TIO in the
        consideration of a complaint.
Items 28A and 28B amend section 284 by similarly enabling disclosure by a person of
information or a document if the disclosure is made to TUSMA (or a member of its staff) and
the information or document may assist TUSMA in carrying out its functions or powers as set
out in the TUSMA Bill.



                                             3
These proposed amendments will ensure that with the shift in responsibility for the delivery
of universal service outcomes and other public interest services to TUSMA, that persons can
disclose certain information and documents to TUSMA, a statutory agency, without
committing an offence - provided the disclosure may assist TUSMA in carrying out its
functions and powers.

Item 28C - Section 299 (heading)
Item 28D - At the end of section 299 (before the note)
Item 28E - Section 299 (note)

These items amend section 299 of the Act by adding a proposed new subsection 299(4) to
provide that where information or a document is disclosed to TUSMA (or a staff member of
TUSMA), as permitted under proposed new subsection 284(4), TUSMA (or its staff
members) must not disclose that information or document except for the purpose of, or in
connection with, the carrying out of TUSMA's functions and powers.

Proposed new subsection 299(4) is equivalent to the requirements that currently apply when
information or a document is disclosed to assist the ACMA under subsection 299(1), and is
similar to the requirements that apply when disclosure is made to either the ACCC or the
TIO. This new subsection is an amendment consequential to proposed subsection 284(4); it
ensures that TUSMA's use of information received under subsection 284(4) is limited to its
statutory functions or powers, as set out in the TUSMA Bill, and that the information or
documents cannot be used or disclosed for any secondary purpose.




                                              4