Assessing price notifications

The price notification provisions are contained in Part VIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 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.

In 2011, the Australian Government undertook a regulatory impact analysis, as a result of which it decided to limit prices surveillance of Australia Post letter services to only certain of the letter services reserved to Australia Post. For example, the 60 cent basic postage rate and other Ordinary letter services remain subject to price notification requirements. These services are described in clause 5 of the current Declaration - Price Notification Declaration (Australia Post Letter Services) (No. 2) 2011 (below).

Under the current Declaration, to avoid breaching s. 95Z of the Act, Australia Post is required to notify the ACCC if it proposes to increase the price of a declared (and therefore notified) service, or if it proposes to introduce a new service that would fall within the definition of declared (notified) services, or if it proposes to provide an existing declared (notified) service under terms and conditions that are not the same or substantially similar to the existing terms and conditions of that service.

Under the previous Declarations (issued in 1992 and February 2011), prices surveillance applied to all letter services reserved to Australia Post under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989.