154Reference of proposed licence schemes to Tribunal

154  Reference of proposed licence schemes to Tribunal

 (1) Where a licensor proposes to bring a licence scheme into operation, he or she may refer the scheme to the Tribunal.

 (2) The parties to a reference under this section are:

 (a) the licensor referring the scheme; and

 (b) such organizations or persons (if any) as apply to the Tribunal to be made parties to the reference and, in accordance with the next succeeding subsection, are made parties to the reference; and

 (c) the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, if the Tribunal makes the Commission a party to the reference under section 157B.

 (3) Where an organization (whether claiming to be representative of persons requiring licences or not) or a person (whether requiring a licence or not) applies to the Tribunal to be made a party to a reference, and the Tribunal is satisfied that the organization or person has a substantial interest in the operation of the scheme to which the reference relates, the Tribunal may, if it thinks fit, make that organization or person a party to the reference.

 (4) The Tribunal shall consider a scheme referred under this section and, after giving to the parties to the reference an opportunity of presenting their cases, shall make such order, confirming or varying the scheme or substituting for the scheme another scheme proposed by one of the parties, as the Tribunal considers reasonable in the circumstances.

 (5) An order (other than an interim order) of the Tribunal under this section may, notwithstanding anything contained in the licence scheme to which it relates, be made so as to be in force either indefinitely or for such period as the Tribunal thinks fit.

 (6) Where a licence scheme has been referred to the Tribunal under this section, the licensor may do either or both of the following things:

 (a) bring the scheme into operation before the Tribunal makes an order in pursuance of the reference;

 (b) withdraw the reference at any time before the Tribunal makes an order in pursuance of the reference, whether the scheme has been brought into operation or not.

 (7) The scheme reflecting the Tribunal’s order:

 (a) comes into operation when the order is made, if the scheme referred to the Tribunal had not already come into operation; and

 (b) operates as long as the order remains in force.

This subsection has effect despite anything in the scheme referred to the Tribunal.

Note: Depending on the Tribunal’s order, the scheme reflecting the order will be the scheme confirmed by the order, the scheme as varied by the order or the scheme substituted by the order for the scheme referred to the Tribunal.