Is the access regime worth keeping? The Productivity Commission says 'yes’

On 11 February 2014, the Productivity Commission (PC) released its report ("Final Report")¹ into the effectiveness of the national access regime in Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Regime). The Final Report was the outcome of an inquiry ordered by the Federal Government in October 2012.

By way of background, the Regime allows third parties to seek regulated access to certain services provided by nationally significant infrastructure and has been subject to extensive criticism as a result of the cost and delay associated with a number of third party attempts to gain access to services. One striking example is Fortescue's unsuccessful attempt, over the course of nine years, to gain access to iron-ore railways owned by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto in the Pilbara.