Part 5AThird‑party access obligations for non‑pipeline facilities

Chapter 5A—Third‑party access obligations for non‑pipeline facilities Part 1—Information transparency 197—Definitions facility means the following: (a) a blend processing facility; (b) a compression service facility; (c) a storage facility; (d) a facility, other than a pipeline, prescribed by the Regulations for the purpose of this definition; provider means the following: (a) a blend processing service provider; (b) a compression service provider; (c) a storage provider; (d) the owner, operator or controller of a facility prescribed for the purpose of paragraph (d) of the definition of facility. 198—Information and transparency requirements relating to facilities (1) Without limiting any other provision, the Rules may provide for— (a) the collection, disclosure, verification, management and publication of information in relation to services that may be provided by means of a facility; and (b) without limiting paragraph (a), requirements about the information that must be provided by a provider in relation to access, or potential access, to services provided by means of a facility, including information about the following: (i) the terms and conditions on which the provider is prepared to make the facility available for use by others; (ii) the procedures that the provider will apply in determining a proposal for access to the facility; (iii) relevant prices, costs and methodologies associated with gaining access to, and using, a facility and relevant or related services; (iv) access contracts and arrangements used, or required to be used, by the relevant provider; and (c) without limiting paragraphs (a) and (b), information to be provided by a provider in response to a request for access to services provided by means of a facility; and (d) requirements to ensure that information is accurate and complete; and (e) the imposition or recovery of costs associated with any matter referred to in a preceding paragraph or otherwise associated with facilitating access, or potential access, to services provided by means of a facility. (2) Nothing in subsection (1) limits any power to grant an exemption from complying with a provision, or part of a provision, of the Rules. 199—Publication of information relating to facilities A person required by the Rules made under section 198 to publish information must do so in accordance with the Rules. Part 2—Access to certain facilities 200—Definitions relevant facility means— (a) a blend processing facility; or (b) a facility of a type prescribed by the Regulations for the purposes of this paragraph. 201—Preventing or hindering access to relevant facilities (1) A person who owns, operates or controls a relevant facility, or an associate of the person, must not engage in conduct for the purpose of preventing or hindering the access of another person to a service provided by a relevant facility. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person is taken to engage in conduct for a particular purpose if— (a) the conduct is, or was, engaged in for that purpose or for a purpose that includes, or included, that purpose; and (b) that purpose is, or was, a substantial purpose. (3) A person may be taken to have engaged in conduct for the purpose referred to in subsection (1) even though, after all the evidence has been considered, the existence of that purpose is ascertainable only by inference from the conduct of the person or another person or from other relevant circumstances. (4) Subsection (3) does not limit the manner in which the purpose of a person may be established for the purpose of subsection (1). (a) a reference to engaging in conduct is a reference to doing, or refusing to do, any act, including the following: (i) refusing to supply a service provided by means of a relevant facility; (ii) without reasonable grounds, limiting or disrupting a service provided by means of a relevant facility; (iii) making, or giving effect to, a provision of a contract or arrangement; (iv) arriving at, or giving effect to, a provision of an understanding; (v) requiring the giving of, or giving, a covenant; and (i) refraining, otherwise than inadvertently, from doing the act; or (ii) making it known the act will not be done. (6) Subsection (1) does not apply to conduct engaged in under an agreement, other than conduct in breach of this Law, the Regulations, the Rules or the Procedures, if— (a) for conduct relating to a blend processing facility—the agreement was in force immediately before the Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Other Gases) Act 2023 commenced; and (b) for conduct relating to any other type of facility—the agreement was in force immediately before the facility was prescribed as a relevant facility. 202—Terms and conditions must not discriminate (1) A person who owns, operates or controls a relevant facility must not set terms and conditions for the use of a service provided by means of the facility that discriminate in favour of the following: (a) the person's own operations, whether upstream or downstream; or (b) the operations of an associate of the person. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the extent that the cost of providing a service to another person is higher. (3) This section does not apply if the agreement setting the terms and conditions was in force immediately before— (a) for a blend processing facility—the commencement of the Statutes Amendment (National Energy Laws) (Other Gases) Act 2023; or (b) otherwise—the facility became a relevant facility. 203—Duty to negotiate in good faith (1) A user or prospective user seeking access to a service provided by means of a relevant facility and a person who owns, operates or controls the facility must negotiate in good faith with each other about— (a) whether access can be granted to the user or prospective user; and (b) if access is to be granted—the terms and conditions for the provision of access to the user or prospective user. (2) Without limiting any other provision, the Rules may make provision for or with respect to the following: (a) making and responding to a request for access; (b) the negotiation framework; (c) the resolution of disputes between the person who owns, operates or controls a relevant facility and a user or prospective user of the service provided by means of the relevant facility about 1 or more aspects of access to the service. (3) Where provided for in the Rules, the decision of a dispute resolution body, made in accordance with a rule under subsection (2)(c), has effect as a contract between the parties to the dispute. (4) Rules made under subsection (2) are not required to adopt, either in whole or in part, an existing dispute resolution mechanism in this Law or the Regulations. 204—Rules about ring fencing (1) The Rules may make provision for matters relating to ring fencing the activities of providers, including the following: (a) requirements for the structural and operational separation of the activities of providers; (b) separate accounting requirements for the activities of providers; (c) dealings by providers with associates. provider means the following: (a) a blend processing service provider; (b) the owner, operator or controller of a class of facility prescribed by the Regulations. Chapter 7—The Gas Bulletin Board Part 1—AEMO to be Bulletin Board operator 217—AEMO to be Bulletin Board operator AEMO is responsible for the operation of the Gas Bulletin Board. 218—AEMO's obligation to maintain Bulletin Board (1) AEMO must maintain the Gas Bulletin Board. (2) The Gas Bulletin Board— (a) must be maintained as a website; and (b) must contain information of the kind specified in the Rules in relation to the covered gas industry. (3) AEMO may replace the website with another website containing information of the kind specified in the Rules in relation to the covered gas industry. 219—AEMO's other functions as operator of Gas Bulletin Board AEMO also has, in its capacity as operator of the Gas Bulletin Board, the following functions: (a) to collect and collate Bulletin Board information; (b) to collect and collate other information in relation to the covered gas industry for inclusion on the Gas Bulletin Board; (c) to derive from information of the type mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) information for inclusion on the Gas Bulletin Board; (d) subject to the Rules, to publish information on the Gas Bulletin Board of the kinds that may or must be included on the Gas Bulletin Board under the Rules; (e) to manage information of the type mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c); (f) the other functions conferred on AEMO in its capacity as the operator of the Gas Bulletin Board by this Law, the Rules or any other law prescribed by the Regulations for the purposes of this paragraph. 222—Fees for services provided (1) AEMO may charge a fee specified, or a fee calculated in accordance with a formula or methodology specified, in the Rules for access by a person to— (a) the Gas Bulletin Board; or (b) Bulletin Board information. (2) The fee must not be such as to amount to taxation. Part 2—Bulletin Board information 223—Obligation to give information to AEMO (1) A person who has possession or control of information in relation to the covered gas industry must give the information to AEMO for use by AEMO in connection with the Gas Bulletin Board if the person is required to do so under the Rules. (2) The information must be given to AEMO in accordance with the Rules. (4) Subsection (1) applies subject to any provision made by the Regulations as to any person, transaction or activity that is not to be the subject of any Rules made under this section. (5) AEMO must make available for the operation of the Bulletin Board information about covered gas, covered gas services or the use of covered gas that it acquires in its capacity as the operator or administrator of a regulated gas market. (6) Subsection (1) does not require— (b) a natural person to disclose information that would incriminate the person or make the person liable to a criminal penalty under the law of an Australian jurisdiction (whether or not the jurisdiction is a participating jurisdiction). 224—Person cannot rely on duty of confidence to avoid compliance with obligation A person must not refuse to comply with the requirement in section 223(1) or under section 226A on the ground of any duty of confidence. 225—Giving false or misleading information A person must not give Bulletin Board information to AEMO or the AER that the person knows is false or misleading in a material particular. 226—Immunity of persons giving information to AEMO or AER (1) A person who gives Bulletin Board information to AEMO or the AER does not incur any civil monetary liability for an act or omission in giving that information unless the act or omission is done or made in bad faith or through negligence. (2) The civil monetary liability for an act or omission of a kind referred to in subsection (1) done or made through negligence may not exceed the prescribed maximum amount. (a) prescribe a maximum amount that is limited in its application to persons, events, circumstances, losses or periods specified in the Regulations; (b) prescribe maximum amounts that vary in their application according to the persons to whom or the events, circumstances, losses or periods to which they are expressed to apply; (4) A person mentioned in subsection (1) may enter into an agreement with another person varying or excluding the operation of a provision of this section and, to the extent of that agreement, that provision does not apply. 226A—Provision of certain information to AER (1) Without limiting any other provision, the Rules may provide for— (a) requirements for persons subject to the operation of this Chapter to give to the AER gas price assumptions and forecasts connected with estimates of natural gas reserves and resources; and (b) requirements to ensure that information satisfies the requirements of the Rules; and (c) requirements for the AER to publish information obtained under paragraph (a) on an anonymised basis. (2) The AER, in relation to information given to the AER in compliance with a requirement under subsection (1), is to treat the information as having been given to it in confidence and is authorised to disclose the information in accordance with Chapter 10 Part 2 Division 1. Part 3—BB Procedures 227—BB Procedures AEMO may, in accordance with the Rules, make BB Procedures. 228—Nature of BB Procedures (1) BB Procedures are a form of statutory instrument directed at the regulation of the Gas Bulletin Board. (2) The BB Procedures may deal with the following matters: (b) any other matter relevant to the Gas Bulletin Board on which this Law or the Rules contemplate the making of Procedures. (3) The BB Procedures— (c) may confer rights or impose obligations; and (d) may confer power on AEMO to make or issue guidelines, tests, standards and other documents of an administrative nature; and (e) may confer power on AEMO to require a person on whom a right is conferred, or an obligation imposed, under the Procedure— (f) may exempt, or confer a power of exemption, from the application of the Procedures or specified provisions of the Procedures; and (4) AEMO must not, without the consent of the MCE, make Procedures that confer a right or function, or impose an obligation, on the MCE or a Minister of a participating jurisdiction. (5) The BB Procedures cannot— 228A—Compliance with BB Procedures (1) AEMO and each person to whom the BB Procedures are applicable must comply with the Procedures. (3) If AEMO has reason to believe that a person is not complying with the BB Procedures, it may, by notice in writing, direct the person to comply with relevant provisions of the BB Procedures. (4) A person to whom a direction is addressed under subsection (3) must comply with the direction.