has conditioned the conduct of these facilities to at ACCC (2007), Access Dispute between Services Sydney Pty Ltd and Sydney Water Corporation, Arbitration Report, least some extent. Nonetheless, examples of 19 July. creeping monopoly conduct by such facilities emerge from time to time. Gans, J (2007), An Evaluation of Criterion (b) in Long-Haul Rail Services, Report for DLA Phillips Fox, December. This has prompted arguments that, one way or Independent Committee of Inquiry (F Hilmer, (1993), another, coverage/declaration of such facilities National Competition Policy, AGPS, Canberra, August. should be the default model, with consequent better Industries Assistance Commission (1989), Government and more timely access to dispute resolution, but (Non-Tax) Charges, Report No. 231. only if required by a breakdown in negotiations. The argument is that this would provide a more effective Industry Commission Energy Generation and Distribution, Report No. 11, 17 May. constraint on service providers, even if actual arbitrations remained rare. In a more mature Industry Commission (1991b), Rail Transport, Report No. environment for access regulation, is this an 13, 21 August. appropriate step? The answer probably turns on Infrastructure Australia (2013), National Infrastructure Plan, credible demonstration that arbitration will be Report to COAG, June. available sparingly, and the onus will be on the National Competition Council (2008), Robe Railway: parties to make genuine efforts to resolve disputes Applications for Declaration of a Service Provided by Robe commercially. The limited experience with Railway section 44F(1) of the Trade Practices Act arbitrations to date tends to suggest that this might Final Recommendation, 29 August. 1974, turn out to be the case. Productivity Commission (2001), Review of the National Access Regime, Inquiry Report No. 17, 28 September. References Productivity Commission (2013), National Access Regime, ACCC (2002), Draft Greenfields Guideline for Natural Gas Draft Inquiry Report, Canberra, May. Transmission Pipelines, June.
has conditioned the conduct of these facilities to at least some extent. Nonetheless, examples of creeping monopoly conduct by such facilities emerge from time to time. This has prompted arguments that, one way or another, coverage/declaration of such facilities should be the default model, with consequent better and more timely access to dispute resolution, but only if required by a breakdown in negotiations. The argument is that this would provide a more effective constraint on service providers, even if actual arbitrations remained rare. In a more mature environment for access regulation, is this an appropriate step? The answer probably turns on credible demonstration that arbitration will be available sparingly, and the onus will be on the parties to make genuine efforts to resolve disputes commercially. The limited experience with arbitrations to date tends to suggest that this might turn out to be the case. References ACCC (2002), Draft Greenfields Guideline for Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines, June. ACCC (2007), Access Dispute between Services Sydney Pty Ltd and Sydney Water Corporation, Arbitration Report, 19 July. Gans, J (2007), An Evaluation of Criterion (b) in Long-Haul Rail Services, Report for DLA Phillips Fox, December. Independent Committee of Inquiry (F Hilmer, (1993), National Competition Policy, AGPS, Canberra, August. Industries Assistance Commission (1989), Government (Non-Tax) Charges, Report No. 231. Industry Commission Energy Generation and Distribution, Report No. 11, 17 May. Industry Commission (1991b), Rail Transport, Report No. 13, 21 August. Infrastructure Australia (2013), National Infrastructure Plan, Report to COAG, June. National Competition Council (2008), Robe Railway: Applications for Declaration of a Service Provided by Robe Railway section 44F(1) of the Trade Practices Act 1974, Final Recommendation, 29 August. Productivity Commission (2001), Review of the National Access Regime, Inquiry Report No. 17, 28 September. Productivity Commission (2013), National Access Regime, Draft Inquiry Report, Canberra, May.