Div 2Postal Charges

Division 2—Postal Charges Charges for postage and other charges. 18. (1) The Commission may, from time to time, make, with the approval of the Minister, determinations fixing or varying the rates of postage for the transmission within Australia by ordinary post of— (a) standard postal articles; and (b) registered publications. (2) The Commission may, from time to time, make determinations fixing or varying— (a) rates of postage for the transmission of postal articles to which sub-section (1) is inapplicable; (b) fees for the provision, in relation to the transmission of postal articles by post, of any special services; and (c) fees for any other services that the Commission provides under this Act. (3) An application to the Minister for his approval of a determination proposed to be made by the Commission under sub-section (1)— (a) shall be made to the Minister in writing; (b) shall specify the date as from which the determination is, if approved by the Minister, intended to operate; and (c) shall also specify— (i) the proportion of the amount ascertained in accordance with the formula specified in paragraph 76(1)(b) in respect of the financial year in which the date so specified occurs that the Commission is planning to provide out of revenues of the Commission for expenditure by way of capital expenditure; and (ii) the amount estimated by the Commission to be the amount of revenue that the Commission will receive in respect of the financial year referred to in sub-paragraph (i), if the determination is made and any other determination that the Commission proposes to make under sub-section (2) is also made. (4) The Minister shall furnish his decision with respect to an application referred to in sub-section (3) to the Commission in writing. (5) Where an application has been made to the Minister for approval of a determination that the Commission proposes to make under sub-section (1), the Minister may request the Commission, in writing, to furnish to him specified information that is, in his opinion, relevant to the fixing or varying of the rates of postage to which the determination relates, and the Commission shall comply with the request to the extent to which it is practicable to do so and as soon as practicable after receipt of the request. (6) The Commission shall cause particulars of rates of postage and other charges determined by it under this section to be published in the Gazette. (7) For the purpose of this section, a postal article is a standard postal article if— (a) the article does not weigh more than 500 grams; (b) the thickness of the article does not exceed 5 millimetres; and (c) the other 2 dimensions of the article form an oblong— (i) the shorter of whose sides is not less than 88 millimetres and not more than 122 millimetres in length; (ii) the longer of whose sides is not less than 138 millimetres and not more than 237 millimetres in length; and (iii) the respective lengths of whose adjacent sides are in the ratio of 1 to at least 1.414. Reimbursement. 19. (1) This section applies to the Commission in respect of a financial year where— (a) the Commission has submitted to the Minister for his approval a determination that it proposes to make under sub-section 18(1) with a view to fulfilling the financial policy that it is pursuing in respect of that financial year, but the Minister has refused to grant his approval; and (b) subsequent to that refusal, the Commission— (i) after having given consideration to any suggestions with respect to rates of postage made by the Minister when refusing to approve the determination referred to in paragraph (a); and (ii) after having reconsidered the proposed expenditures of the Commission, the proportion specified in the application for the Minister’s approval in accordance with sub-paragraph 18(3)(c)(i) and all rates of postage and fees charged by the Commission with a view to formulating a financial policy in respect of that year and carrying out that policy otherwise than by charging the rates of postage proposed in the determination referred to in paragraph (a), has submitted to the Minister an application in accordance with sub-section 18(3) for his approval of another determination (in this section referred to as the second determination), whether or not differing from the original proposed determination, that the Commission proposes to make under sub-section 18(1), but the Minister has refused to grant his approval. (2) Where, after the end of a financial year in respect of which this section applies to the Commission, the Minister is satisfied that the Commission has complied with sub-section 76(2) in respect of the year and that, for reasons related, either in whole or in part, to his having refused to approve under sub-section 18(1) the second determination, the revenue that the Commission would have required in respect of the financial year for the purpose of enabling it— (a) to have met, out of that revenue, all expenditure, and provision for expenditure, of the Commission in respect of that year properly chargeable to the revenue; and (b) to have provided, for expenditure by the Commission by way of capital expenditure, a sum equal to the proportion specified in the application made to the Minister in respect of the second determination in pursuance of sub-paragraph 18(3)(c)(i) of the amount ascertained in respect of that financial year in accordance with the formula specified in paragraph 76(1)(b) or equal to one-half of the amount so ascertained, whichever is the less, exceeds the revenue of the Commission in respect of that year, the Commission is entitled to be paid by Australia— (c) an amount equal to the excess; (d) an amount equal to the amount by which the revenue of the Commission in respect of that year was less than the amount specified in the application made to the Minister in respect of that second determination in pursuance of sub-paragraph 18(3)(c)(ii); or (e) an amount equal to the amount by which the revenue of the Commission in respect of that year is less than the revenue that, in the opinion of the Minister, the Commission would have received in respect of that year if that second determination had been approved by the Minister and made by the Commission, whichever is the least. (3) Where the Minister, when refusing to approve the second determination in respect of a financial year, notifies the Commission the rates of postage that he would be prepared to approve in respect of that year but the Commission does not make a determination under sub-section 18(1) fixing or varying the rates of postage accordingly, the Commission is not entitled to be paid an amount by Australia under sub\-section (2) of this section in respect of that financial year. (4) The Minister may, when notifying the Commission the rates of postage that he would be prepared to approve in respect of a year, specify any concessional rates that should, in his opinion, be provided for persons included in a specified class of persons. (5) The Treasurer may, out of moneys appropriated by the Parliament for the purpose, make advances to the Commission, at such times as he thinks fit, of such amounts as he thinks fit on account of any amount that may become payable under sub-section (2). (6) The Commission is liable to repay to Australia, upon demand by the Treasurer, the amount by which the total amounts (including advances) paid to the Commission under this section exceeds the total of those amounts that have become payable to the Commission under sub\-section (2). (7) The Commission shall cause particulars of any refusal by the Minister to approve a determination under sub-section 18(1) to be set out in the report of the Commission under section 102 with respect to its operations during the year in which the approval was refused. Special charges. 20\. (1) Notwithstanding section 18, the Commission may enter into an agreement with any person to transmit postal articles of a particular kind on behalf of that person at rates of postage other than the rates applicable by virtue of determinations in force under section 18. (2) An agreement under sub-section (1) shall provide for postage in respect of the transmission of postal articles of a kind to which the agreement relates to be payable in accordance with specified rates of postage, being rates related to the number of postal articles of that kind posted in accordance with the agreement during a specified period. (3) An agreement under sub-section (1) may be subject to conditions with respect to— (a) the manner of packing, addressing and marking the articles; (b) the manner and place of posting the articles; and (c) the arrangement of the articles so as to facilitate their delivery, and, in that event, the rates of postage provided for by the agreement do not apply in respect of the articles unless the person posting the articles complies with the conditions.