Access to essential infrastructure: Proposals and precepts for Part IIIA of the TPA

The release of two major reports in the latter part of 2002 concerning Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) underscores the growing prominence of the national access regime in Australia’s competition reform agenda. In September 2002, the Productivity Commission released its long-awaited Review of the National Access Regime.[1] This was followed in December 2002 by the National Competition Council’s The National Access Regime: A Guide to Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974.[2] With the former describing how Part IIIA should work, and the latter describing how it does, these reports represent important milestones in the evolution of Australia’s access regime.