EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the authority of the Australian Communications and Media Authority
Telecommunications Act 1997
Telecommunications Numbering Plan (Minor Variation) Declaration 2006
Statutory basis
The Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997 (the Plan) is made under section 455 of the Telecommunications Act 1992 (the Act). The Plan provides for the numbering of carriage services in Australia and the use of numbers in connection with those carriage services.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) may vary the Plan under section 460 of the Act. Subsection 460(3) provides that ACMA must undertake specified consultation processes if it is of the opinion:
- that the proposed variation will affect a number and it has not made a declaration that the variation is minor under subparagraph 460(3)(a)(ii); or
- that it is in the public interest to consult.
On 28 September 2006, ACMA:
- made the Telecommunications Numbering Plan Variation 2006 (No. 2) (the Variation) under section 460 of the Act;
- made the Telecommunications Numbering Plan (Minor Variation) Declaration 2006 under subparagraph 460(3)(a)(ii) (the Declaration); and
- found under paragraph 460(3)(b) that it was not in the public interest to consult about its making.
Intended impact and effect
The Variation amends the Plan to correct previous drafting errors. It does not alter existing arrangements and is of a machinery nature. The intended impact and effect of the Declaration is to allow ACMA to make the Variation efficiently and without the expense of undertaking the compulsory consultation processes in subsection 460(3).
Consultation
The Declaration does not affect existing rights and obligations or change existing arrangements. It is a machinery measure intended to assist ACMA to undertake its functions efficiently and to avoid unnecessary expense. ACMA did not undertake any consultation before making the Declaration.
Description of the provisions of the instrument
The Declaration contains only one clause which declares that the Variation is taken to be a minor variation.