8Negotiation of access to infrastructure services

8 Negotiation of access to infrastructure services

8 Negotiation of access to infrastructure services

(1) For the purposes of the Act, Schedule 2, section 4(b), IPART must have regard to the provisions of this section in determining whether or not the parties to a dispute have, in good faith, attempted to resolve the dispute by negotiation, as referred to in the Act, section 40(2).

(2) Within 14 days after receiving a request from an access seeker for information under this subsection, a service provider that provides an infrastructure service that is the subject of a coverage declaration or access undertaking must make the following information available to the access seeker—

(a) a list of the services provided by the service provider, as described in the relevant coverage declaration or access undertaking,

(b) information about the procedure to be followed to obtain access to each of the services, and the time it is likely to take to negotiate access, assuming the matter does not go to arbitration,

(c) a copy of IPART’s negotiation protocols, together with a statement to the effect that, unless otherwise agreed between the parties, the protocols will apply to the negotiations for access to the service,

(d) the information required by IPART’s negotiation protocols to be provided,

(e) other information the service provider considers appropriate.

(3) IPART’s negotiation protocols must include the following—

(a) an obligation on each party to negotiate in good faith,

(b) an obligation on the service provider to use all reasonable endeavours to accommodate the access seeker’s requirements,

(c) a statement of the information to be provided by the service provider, referred to in subsection (2)(d),

(d) protocols about the exchange of information between the parties, including—

(i) an obligation on the service provider to provide the access seeker with the information necessary to understand the derivation of the derived elements that occur in a proposed access agreement, and

(ii) an obligation on each party to give the undertakings about confidentiality that the other party may reasonably require,