2022‑2023

The Parliament of the

Commonwealth of Australia

THE SENATE

Presented and read a first time

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Continuing ACCC Monitoring of Domestic Airline Competition) Bill 2023

No.      , 2023

(Senators Dean Smith and McKenzie)

A Bill for an Act to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and for related purposes

Contents

1............ Short title............................................................................................. 1

2............ Commencement................................................................................... 1

3............ Schedules............................................................................................ 2

Schedule 1—Price monitoring                                                                                        3

Part 1—Amendments                                                                                                    3

Competition and Consumer Act 2010                                                                     3

Part 2—Repeals                                                                                                                6

Competition and Consumer (Price Monitoring—Domestic Air Passenger Transport) Direction 2020         6

A Bill for an Act to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and for related purposes

The Parliament of Australia enacts:

1  Short title

                   This Act is the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Continuing ACCC Monitoring of Domestic Airline Competition) Act 2023.

2  Commencement

             (1)  Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Note:          This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.

             (2)  Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.

3  Schedules

                   Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1—Price monitoring

Part 1—Amendments

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

1  At the end of Division 5 of Part VIIA

Add:

95ZGA  Price monitoring of domestic air passenger transport services and related goods and services

Object

             (1)  The object of this section is to monitor prices, costs and profits relating to the supply of domestic air passenger transport services, and of related goods and services, for a period of 3 years.

Commission to monitor prices

             (2)  The Commission must:

                     (a)  monitor prices, costs and profits relating to the supply of goods and services by persons in the air passenger transport service industry; and

                     (b)  give the Minister a report on the monitoring at least once every quarter that starts during the period of 3 years beginning at the commencement of this section.

             (3)  Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to:

                     (a)  an exempt supply; or

                     (b)  the supply of a good or service by a State or Territory authority.

Commercial confidentiality

             (4)  The Commission must, in preparing a report referred to in paragraph (2)(b), have regard to the need for commercial confidentiality.

Publishing and tabling requirements

             (5)  As soon as practicable after giving a report to the Minister, the Commission must publish the report on its website.

             (6)  The Minister must cause copies of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 10 sitting days of that House after the report is given to the Minister.

Commission to give special consideration to specified matters

             (7)  The Commission must give special consideration to:

                     (a)  the object in subsection (1); and

                     (b)  monitoring the prices, costs and profits relating to the supply of:

                              (i)  domestic air passenger transport services; and

                             (ii)  goods and services that are related to the supply of domestic air passenger transport services;

in complying with the obligation in subsection (2).

Definitions

             (8)  In this section:

air passenger transport service industry means the industry comprised of those parts of the air and space transport class 4900 that relate to the supply of air passenger transport services, as classified in ANZSIC.

ANZSIC means the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006 (1292.0) published by the Australian Statistician, as revised and in force on the day this section commences.

Note:          In 2023, the text of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006 was accessible through the Australian Bureau of Statistics website (http://www.abs.gov.au).

domestic air passenger transport service means an air passenger transport service to the extent that it is provided for the purposes of air passenger transport between places within Australia.

quarter means a period of 3 months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December.

Part 2—Repeals

Competition and Consumer (Price Monitoring—Domestic Air Passenger Transport) Direction 2020

2  The whole of the instrument

Repeal the instrument.