"State or Territory access regime law "means:

(a) a law of a State or Territory that establishes or regulates an access regime; or
(b) a law of a State or Territory that regulates an industry that is subject to an access regime.
2 Section 44ZZM

Repeal the section, substitute:

(1)

A State or Territory access regime law may confer functions or powers, or impose duties, on the Commission or Tribunal.

Note: Section 44ZZMB sets out when such a law imposes a duty on the Commission or Tribunal.

(2)

Subsection (1) does not authorise the conferral of a function or power, or the imposition of a duty, by a law of a State or Territory to the extent to which:

(a) the conferral or imposition, or the authorisation, would contravene any constitutional doctrines restricting the duties that may be imposed on the Commission or Tribunal; or
(b) the authorisation would otherwise exceed the legislative power of the Commonwealth.

(3)

The Commission or Tribunal cannot perform a duty or function, or exercise a power, under a State or Territory access regime law unless the conferral of the function or power, or the imposition of the duty, is in accordance with an agreement between the Commonwealth and the State or Territory concerned.

44ZZMA How duty is imposed

Application

(1)

This section applies if a State or Territory access regime law purports to impose a duty on the Commission or Tribunal.

Note: Section 44ZZMB sets out when such a law imposes a duty on the Commission or Tribunal.

State or Territory legislative power sufficient to support duty

(2)

The duty is taken not to be imposed by this Act (or any other law of the Commonwealth) to the extent to which:

(a) imposing the duty is within the legislative powers of the State or Territory concerned; and
(b) imposing the duty by the law of the State or Territory is consistent with the constitutional doctrines restricting the duties that may be imposed on the Commission or Tribunal.

Note: If this subsection applies, the duty will be taken to be imposed by force of the law of the State or Territory (the Commonwealth having consented under section 44ZZM to the imposition of the duty by that law).

Commonwealth legislative power sufficient to support duty but State or Territory legislative powers are not

(3)

If, to ensure the validity of the purported imposition of the duty, it is necessary that the duty be imposed by a law of the Commonwealth (rather than by the law of the State or Territory), the duty is taken to be imposed by this Act to the extent necessary to ensure that validity.

(4)

If, because of subsection (3), this Act is taken to impose the duty, it is the intention of the Parliament to rely on all powers available to it under the Constitution to support the imposition of the duty by this Act.

(5)

The duty is taken to be imposed by this Act in accordance with subsection (3) only to the extent to which imposing the duty:

(a) is within the legislative powers of the Commonwealth; and
(b) is consistent with the constitutional doctrines restricting the duties that may be imposed on the Commission or Tribunal.

(6)

Subsections (1) to (5) do not limit section 44ZZM.

44ZZMB When a law of a State or Territory imposes a duty

For the purposes of sections 44ZZM and 44ZZMA, a State or Territory access regime law imposes a duty on the Commission or Tribunal if:

(a) the law confers a function or power on the Commission or Tribunal; and
(b) the circumstances in which the function or power is conferred give rise to an obligation on the Commission or Tribunal to perform the function or to exercise the power.
3 Section 44ZZOA

Repeal the section.