{"id":"F2023L00819","name":"Competition and Consumer (Prices Surveillance—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Direction 2023","slug":"f2023l00819","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":441956,"registerId":"F2023L00819-fast-fetch-1775957108383","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Competition and Consumer (Prices Surveillance—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Direction 2023","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth coat of arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nCompetition and Consumer (Prices Surveillance—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Direction 2023\n\nI, Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, give the following direction to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.\n\nDated  19 June 2023\n\n \n\nDr Andrew Leigh\n\nAssistant Minister for 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—Direction to give special consideration in undertaking prices surveillance\n\n6 Object \n\n7  Scope of the Direction\n\n8  Direction\n\nPart 3—Application\n\n9  Application\n\n10  Cessation\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nCompetition and Consumer (Prices Surveillance—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Direction 2022\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Competition and Consumer (Prices Surveillance—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Direction 2023.\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of this instrument 1 July 2023. 1 July 2023\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made.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 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\nIn this instrument:\n\nABN has the meaning given by the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999.\n\naeronautical services and facilities has the meaning given by Part 7 of the Airports Regulations 1997.\n\nindex number, for a quarter, means the All Groups Consumer Price Index number (being the weighted average of the 8 capital cities) published by the Australian Statistician for that quarter.\n\nquarter means a period of 3 months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December.\n\nthe Act means the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.\n\nPart 2—Direction to give special consideration in undertaking prices surveillance\n\n6 Object\n\nThe object of this instrument is to facilitate continued access to Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport by operators of regular public transport air services operating wholly within the State of New South Wales.\n\n7  Scope of the Direction\n\nThis instrument applies to an exercise of power and performance of functions under Part VIIA of the Act by the Commission in relation to the pricing of aeronautical services and facilities at the airport known as the Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport, insofar as the exercise of power or performance of functions relates to either or both of the following instruments:\n\n (a) the Competition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Declaration 2023;\n\n (b) the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 – Monitoring of the Prices, Costs and Profits Relating to the Supply of Aeronautical Services and Facilities at Specified Airports in Australia.\n\nNote: In 2023, the instrument referred to in paragraph (b), as currently in force, can be found on the Federal Register of Legislation with the Register ID F2012L01271.\n\n8  Direction\n\nUnder section 95ZH of the Act, the Commission is directed to give special consideration, in exercising its powers and performing its functions, to the Government’s policy that for each financial year, over the period in which this instrument applies, the total revenue-weighted percentage increase in prices (including new or restricted prices):\n\n (a) for the provision of aeronautical services and facilities that are declared to be notified services by the Competition and Consumer (Price Notifications—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Declaration 2023; and\n\n (b) that are paid by operators of regular public transport air services operating wholly within the State of New South Wales; and\n\n (c) that are paid to Sydney Airport Corporation Limited (ABN 62 082 578 809);\n\nshould not exceed the percentage by which the sum of the index numbers for the quarters of the 12 month period (the reference year) ending on 31 March immediately before the start of the financial year is greater than the sum of the index numbers for the quarters of the 12 month period ending on 31 March in the year immediately before the reference year.\n\nNote: The percentage increase between the sums of index numbers represents the inflation rate for the relevant year.\n\nPart 3—Application\n\n9  Application\n\nThis instrument applies to the financial years commencing on 1 July 2023, 1 July 2024 and 1 July 2025.\n\n10  Cessation\n\nThis instrument ceases to apply on 30 June 2026, and is repealed on 1 July 2026.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nCompetition and Consumer (Prices Surveillance—Aeronautical Services to NSW Regional Airlines) Direction 2022\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument replaces and repeals the 2022 Direction and continues the same operative purpose: direct the ACCC, in conducting Part VIIA surveillance, to give special consideration to a CPI‑based limit on revenue‑weighted price increases for specified aeronautical services at Sydney Airport paid by NSW regional airlines. Based solely on the text, it maintains that prior scope and sets a new finite application period (FY2023–24 to FY2025–26) rather than expanding the scope."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to other instruments and statutes (Part VIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010; Airports Regulations 1997; separate Price Notifications Declaration and monitoring instrument) which require readers to consult multiple texts to understand full effect.","Technical arithmetic: the cap is expressed as a ‘total revenue-weighted percentage increase’ calculated by comparing sums of quarterly All‑Groups CPI index numbers for 12‑month reference periods.","Ambiguous legal standard: the ACCC is required to ‘give special consideration’ rather than follow a strict prohibition, creating discretionary judgment in surveillance and enforcement.","Targeted application: applies only to aeronautical services declared under a specific 2023 Declaration and only to charges paid by operators of RPT services wholly within NSW to a single corporate entity (Sydney Airport Corporation), narrowing scope but concentrating impact.","Temporal limits and repeal mechanics: limited to specified financial years (commencing 1 July 2023, 2024, 2025) and repeals a prior 2022 Direction, requiring attention to transitional and historical arrangements.","Data and compliance burden: determining revenue-weighted increases requires reliable revenue and price data from airport and airlines and consistent CPI data, imposing monitoring and evidentiary tasks on the ACCC and potentially on regulated parties.","Interaction risk: the Direction shapes but does not replace ACCC procedures under Part VIIA, so outcomes depend on how surveillance, reporting and any price notification mechanisms interact in practice."],"plain_english_summary":"This Direction tells the ACCC to prioritize a government policy that limits annual revenue‑weighted increases in aeronautical charges paid to Sydney Airport by regular public‑transport air operators wholly within New South Wales to no more than inflation (measured by the sum of quarterly All‑Groups CPI). It applies to ACCC surveillance under Part VIIA for financial years starting 1 July 2023, 2024 and 2025. Who pays: NSW regional airlines; who decides: the ACCC must ‘give special consideration’; effect: constrains airport pricing and creates data/monitoring obligations for revenue‑weighted CPI calculations."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument maintains its original narrow scope. It is a time-limited, specific direction focused solely on price surveillance for regional NSW airlines at Sydney Airport. The 2023 version simply replaces the 2022 version (repealed in Schedule 1) with updated dates, continuing the same policy without expansion."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument (10 sections plus a repeal schedule)","Only 4 defined terms in section 5, with most definitions referencing external legislation rather than creating new ones","Single clear operative provision (section 8) with one primary directive","Simple temporal application (three fixed financial years in section 9)","Straightforward mathematical formula for the price cap (CPI-based calculation in section 8)","Limited cross-referencing — only references to the parent Act (Competition and Consumer Act 2010) and two related instruments","No nested exceptions or conditional logic beyond the basic scope limitation in section 7"],"plain_english_summary":"This ministerial direction instructs the ACCC to limit Sydney Airport’s annual price increases for aeronautical services charged to airlines operating only within New South Wales to no more than CPI inflation. It protects regional carriers and communities by keeping landing, terminal and parking charges from rising faster than inflation, supporting affordable air links for three financial years (2023–24 to 2025–26)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/f2023l00819","history":"/api/acts/f2023l00819/history","analysis":"/api/acts/f2023l00819/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/f2023l00819/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/f2023l00819/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/f2023l00819/documents"}}