Consultation on remaking of the Australian Postal Corporation Regulations 1996

The Australian Government is seeking comments on the remaking of the Australian Postal Corporation Regulations 1996 (the Regulations). The Regulations are due to sunset on 1 April 2021.

The Regulations are made under the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 (the APC Act) and are being reviewed and their performance assessed to ensure they are achieving their objectives efficiently and effectively.

Part 2 of the Regulations

Part 7B of the APC Act establishes a legislative framework that allows for the removal of some articles from the course of post in certain circumstances (for example, if the article is suspected of containing quarantine material) and disclosure of information about the contents of mail articles.

The application of these Regulations assists in protecting Australia at the border from biohazards, dangerous goods and items that are prohibited to be imported into the country.

Divisions 1 and 1A of Part 2 of the Regulations detail record keeping requirements for items removed from the course post because they may contain drugs or quarantine material.

Division 2 deals with how prohibited items are to be dealt with.

Division 3 prescribes the Corruption and Crime Commission Act 2003 for the purposes of sub-sections 90J(6)(d) and 90LC(5)(d) of the APC Act.

Part 3 of the Regulations

Section 32B of the APC Act provides for the making of regulations enabling:

• the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the ACCC) to inquire into disputes about the amount of rate reduction which should be given by Australia Post to a person under a bulk interconnection service, and to make a recommendation to the Minister for Communications about the amount of that rate reduction; and
• the Minister for Communications to direct Australia Post to act in accordance with a recommendation made by the ACCC.

Part 3 of the Regulations was amended in 2009 to enable the ACCC to inquire into a broad range of disputes involving bulk mail interconnection services consistent with the ACCC’s dispute resolution functions in other industries. The dispute process provides the ACCC with flexibility in the conduct of an inquiry into these services and acts as a deterrent to Australia Post unfairly using its position to exploit users of bulk mail interconnection services.

Part 3 of the Regulations sets out procedures to ensure that persons who use the bulk interconnection service receive fair and reasonable rate reductions. This is to be achieved by:

• establishing procedures by which the ACCC will hear disputes about discounts offered by Australia Post for use of bulk interconnection services;
• ensuring that the inquiry is conducted in a fair, economical and quick way, including that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal can review a decision by the Minister for Communications;
• requiring the ACCC to report and make recommendations to the Minister for Communications about completed inquiries; and
• empowering the Minister for Communication to give a direction to Australia Post to act in accordance with a recommendation made by the ACCC.