290Minister may declare universal service carriers

290 Minister may declare universal service carriers

(1) The Minister may by writing declare a carrier to be the universal service carrier for Australia. (2) The Minister may by writing declare a carrier to be the universal service carrier for a specified service area. (3) The Minister may make a declaration under subsection (1) or (2) in relation to a carrier only if a declaration under subsection 4(1) of the Telecommunications (Universal Service Levy) Act 1991 is in force in relation to the carrier. (4) The Minister must exercise his or her powers under this section in such a way that:

(a) at any particular time, there is one declaration in force under subsection (1); and

(b) no service area in relation to which a declaration is in force under subsection (2) overlaps (either wholly or in part) with another such area.

(5) A declaration under this section:

(a) takes effect at the start of the next financial year after the one in which it is made; and

(b) if it specifies a financial year at whose end it ceases to have effect—ceases to have effect at the end of that financial year, unless it is sooner revoked.

(6) A revocation of a declaration under this section takes effect:

(a) if it specifies a financial year at whose end it is to take effect—at the end of that financial year; or

(b) otherwise—at the end of the financial year in which it is made.

(7) An instrument under this section is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. (8) Despite paragraph (5)(a), a declaration under subsection (1) that is made during the financial year beginning on 1 July 1991 is taken to have taken effect on that day.