Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

TELECOMMUNICATIONS (CONSUMER PROTECTION AND SERVICE STANDARDS) ACT 1999 - SECT 12E

             (1)  This section applies to agreements under section 56 or 57 of the Telstra Corporation Act 1991 made between the Commonwealth and a person (including a State or Territory) that are expressed to also have effect for the purposes of:

                     (a)  this subsection; or

                     (b)  subsection 20(2B) of this Act as in force immediately before the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Amendment Act (No. 2) 2000 .

             (2)  The Minister is taken to have properly made:

                     (a)  a determination under section 9G that each of the areas, specified in the agreement as a universal service area in respect of a service obligation, is a universal service area in respect of that service obligation for the purposes of this Act; and

                     (b)  a determination under section 12A that the person is a primary universal service provider for each of the areas, in respect of the service obligation or obligations, specified in the agreement.

Those determinations are referred to in this section as deemed determinations .

             (3)  The deemed determinations take effect as follows:

                     (a)  if the commencement date (see subsection (4)) is the same for each of the areas--they take effect on that commencement date; or

                     (b)  if there are different commencement dates for different areas--they take effect for those different areas on those different dates.

             (4)  The commencement date or dates for an area is or are as follows:

                     (a)  if the agreement specifies a single date as the commencement date for the area--subject to paragraph (c), the commencement date for the area is the specified date;

                     (b)  if the agreement specifies different dates as the commencement dates for different areas--subject to paragraph (c), the commencement dates for those areas are the specified dates;

                     (c)  if a determination under subsection (5) specifies a date as the commencement date for the area or areas--the commencement date for the area or areas is the specified date (regardless of any dates specified in the agreement).

A commencement date cannot be a date before the agreement is made, or before the commencement of this subsection or the subsection referred to in paragraph (1)(a).

             (5)  The Minister may make a written determination specifying a date as the commencement date for the area or areas specified in the agreement as universal service areas. A copy of the determination must be published in the Gazette .

             (6)  Despite subsections 9G(5) and 12A(6), the deemed determinations are not disallowable instruments for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 . Instead, a notice must be published in the Gazette that:

                     (a)  states that the person is a primary universal service provider for the area or areas concerned, in respect of the service obligation or obligations concerned; and

                     (b)  includes the relevant commencement date or dates.

             (7)  However, a variation or revocation of a deemed determination is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 .

             (8)  This section applies to an agreement whether made before, on or after the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Amendment Act (No. 2) 2000 .