The price notification provisions are contained in Part VIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and apply only to ‘notified services’ and ‘declared persons’. The object of these provisions is to have prices surveillance applied only to those markets where, in the view of the minister, competitive pressures are not sufficient to achieve efficient prices and protect consumers.
Declaration no. 75 made under section 95X of the Act provides that:
the provision of letter services reserved to Australia Post to be notified services for the purposes of Part VIIA of the Act
Australia Post to be a declared person for the purposes of Part VIIA of the Act.
This declaration means that, to avoid breaching s. 95Z of the Act, Australia Post must notify the ACCC if it proposes to increase the price of a reserved (and therefore notified) service, or if it proposes to introduce a new service that would fall within the definition of reserved (notified) services, or if it proposes to provide an existing reserved (notified) service under terms and conditions that are not the same or substantially similar to the existing terms and conditions of that service.
In July 2009, Australia Post lodged its 2009 draft price notification with the ACCC with the intention to increase the prices of its reserved letter services.
This price notification relates to the proposed introduction of a new service, Impact Mail, that will fall within the definition of Australia Post's reserved services.
