EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by authority of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer
Trade Practices Amendment (National Access Regime) Act 2006
Proclamation
Subsection 2(1) of the Trade Practices Amendment (National Access Regime) Act 2006 (the Act) provides that Schedule 1 to the Act commences on a day to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provisions of Schedule 1 did not commence within six months of the date the Act received the Royal Assent, then those provisions would have commenced on the first day after the end of that six month period. The Act received the Royal Assent on 18 August 2006.
The purpose of the Proclamation was to fix 1 October 2006 as the day on which Schedule 1 to the Act commenced.
Schedule 1 to the Act amended Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974, the legislation underpinning the National Access Regime.
Schedule 1 to the Act improves the operation of the National Access Regime — a regulatory framework, established in 1995, that facilitates access by third parties to services provided by essential infrastructure. Improvements made by the Act include: clarifying the Regime’s objectives; streamlining regulatory procedures; and enhancing the transparency and accountability of regulatory decisions. It also contains provisions designed to promote more efficient investment in and use of essential infrastructure.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
Consultation was not undertaken in relation to this instrument because it is minor or machinery in nature.