{"id":"F2025L01078","name":"Competition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Australia Post Letter Services) Declaration 2025","slug":"competition-and-consumer-price-notifications-australia-post-letter-services-declaration-2025","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":442954,"registerId":"F2025L01078-fast-fetch-1775957868481","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Competition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Australia Post Letter Services) Declaration 2025","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n![Commonwealth coat of arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nCompetition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Australia Post Letter Services) Declaration 2025\n\nI, Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury, make the following declaration.\n\nDated  9 September 2025\n\n \n\nDr Andrew Leigh\n\nAssistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury  Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name \n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Schedules\n\n5  Definitions\n\nPart 2—Price notifications\n\n6  Declaration of letter services and declared persons\n\nPart 3—Application\n\n7  Cessation and repeal\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nCompetition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Australia Post Letter Services) Declaration 2015\n\n \n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Competition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Australia Post Letter Services) Declaration 2025.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument 1 October 2025. 1 October 2025\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 95X of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\nNote: Expressions have the same meaning in this instrument as in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 as in force from time to time—see paragraph 13(1)(b) of the Legislation Act 2003.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAustralia Post means the Australian Postal Corporation.\n\nconvention has the same meaning as in the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989.\n\nspecial letter service means a letter service that is:\n\n (a) supplied at a rate lower than the ordinary rate, subject to the sender meeting certain requirements including, but not limited to:\n\n (i) the volume of letters lodged; or\n\n (ii) the format of letters lodged; or\n\n (iii) the pre-sorting of letters lodged; or\n\n (iv) the content of letters lodged; or\n\n (v) the sender of letters lodged; or\n\n (vi) the method of payment; or\n\n (vii) the method of lodgement; or\n\n (b) supplied at a rate higher than the ordinary rate because Australia Post supplies goods that are integral to the letter service as part of the service including, but not limited to:\n\n (i) an envelope; or\n\n (ii) a packet; or\n\n (iii) a parcel; or\n\n (iv) a container; or\n\n (v) a wrapper; or\n\n (vi) a card; or\n\n (c) supplied at a rate higher than the ordinary rate because of additional features being supplied by Australia Post as part of the letter service including, but not limited to:\n\n (i) priority delivery; or\n\n (ii) reply paid; or\n\n (iii) carriage of non-rectangular-shaped articles.\n\nthe Act means the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.\n\nPart 2—Price notifications\n\n \n\n6  Declaration of letter services and declared persons\n\nNotified service\n\n (1) For the purposes of Part VIIA of the Act, the provision of letter services by Australia Post for the carriage within Australia of letters is declared to be a notified service.\n\nNote: Under subsection 95X(1) of the Act, the Minister may declare goods and services of a specified description to be notified goods and services for the purposes of Part VIIA of the Act (about prices surveillance).\n\n (2) Despite subsection (1), none of the following is declared to be a notified service:\n\n (a) letter services that are not reserved to Australia Post under Division 2 of Part 3 the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989;\n\n (b) letter services under an incoming overseas mail service (within the meaning of section 32C of the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989) to which a convention applies;\n\n (c) special letter services.\n\nDeclared person in relation to notified service\n\n (3) For the purposes of Part VIIA of the Act, Australia Post is a declared person in relation to the notified service declared under subsection (1).\n\nNote: Under subsection 95X(2) of the Act, the Minister may declare a person to be, in relation to goods and services of a specified description, a declared person for the purposes of Part VIIA of the Act (about prices surveillance).\n\nPart 3—Application\n\n7  Cessation and repeal\n\n  This instrument:\n\n (a) ceases to have effect at the end of 31 December 2028; and\n\n (b) is repealed at the start of 1 January 2029.\n\nNote: Under subsection 95X(4) of the Act, the Minister must specify the time when this instrument ceases to have effect. The instrument will cease to have effect at that time unless it is revoked sooner.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nCompetition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Australia Post Letter Services) Declaration 2015\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument expressly repeals the 2015 declaration (Schedule 1) and re‑declares the subject matter while specifying explicit exclusions and a fixed expiry date of 31 December 2028 (`s6(1)–(3)`, `s7`). The form and temporality of the declaration have therefore changed (replacement with time limit); whether the substantive coverage differs from the 2015 instrument cannot be determined from this instrument alone."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑references to Part VIIA (price surveillance) and the enabling power s95X require reading multiple Acts to see practical effects (`s3`, notes to `s6`).","Definition of \"special letter service\" contains multiple conditional criteria (volume, format, pre‑sorting, goods bundled, priority features), increasing interpretive and compliance complexity (`s5`).","Exclusions refer to services reserved under the Australian Postal Corporation Act and to incoming mail covered by international conventions, creating statutory interaction and reliance on external definitions (`s6(2)(a)–(b)`).","Designating Australia Post as the declared person imposes a compliance and notification obligation on a single, concentrated entity (operational effect under Part VIIA; see `s6(3)`).","Time‑limited operation (ceases 31 Dec 2028) creates a fixed horizon for review or renewal and potential transition planning (`s7`).","Repeal of the 2015 instrument indicates a replacement of prior rules, requiring comparison for any substantive differences (Schedule 1)."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument declares Australia Post’s domestic letter carriage a \"notified service\" under the Competition and Consumer Act’s price‑surveillance rules and names Australia Post as the declared person required to notify price changes (`s6(1)`, `s6(3)`).\n\nIt excludes non‑reserved services, incoming overseas mail covered by a convention and defined \"special letter services\", sets the declaration to cease on 31 December 2028, and repeals the 2015 declaration (`s6(2)`, `s7`, Schedule 1)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a straightforward re-enactment of the 2015 Declaration with updated dates. The scope remains identical: maintaining price notification requirements for Australia Post's reserved letter services. The exclusions (non-reserved services, international convention mail, and special letter services) are preserved unchanged. No expansion of regulatory reach has occurred."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument: only 7 substantive sections plus a repeal schedule","Single defined term with detailed sub-paragraphs: 'special letter service' contains 3 main limbs with 7 sub-bullets under (a) and 6 under (b) and 3 under (c)","Cross-references to 3 other Acts: Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989, and Legislation Act 2003","Simple conditional structure: one main declaration with three straightforward exceptions in subsection 6(2)","No nested exceptions or complex temporal provisions beyond standard commencement and sunset clauses"],"plain_english_summary":"This sunsetting instrument renews price-monitoring rules for Australia Post’s reserved domestic letter services, requiring the operator to notify the government before most price changes. It keeps ACCC oversight to protect consumers and businesses where Australia Post holds monopoly rights, replacing the 2015 regime.\n\nIt takes effect 1 October 2025 and automatically expires 31 December 2028."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/competition-and-consumer-price-notifications-australia-post-letter-services-declaration-2025","history":"/api/acts/competition-and-consumer-price-notifications-australia-post-letter-services-declaration-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/competition-and-consumer-price-notifications-australia-post-letter-services-declaration-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/competition-and-consumer-price-notifications-australia-post-letter-services-declaration-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/competition-and-consumer-price-notifications-australia-post-letter-services-declaration-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/competition-and-consumer-price-notifications-australia-post-letter-services-declaration-2025/documents"}}