ACCC report into AP cross-subsidissation

The ACCC has released its first report on whether or not Australia Post is subsidising its competitive activities from its monopoly activities. The report found no evidence of such cross-subsidisation.One of the ACCC's responsibilities with regard to Australia Post is to monitor for the presence of cross-subsidies between Australia Post's reserved and non-reserved services.To assist it in undertaking these roles, the ACCC can issue 'record keeping rules' to Australia Post, thereby requiring Australia Post to keep the records specified and provide them to the ACCC.The record keeping rule provisions were introduced to the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 by the Postal Services Legislation Amendment Act 2004, and, while one of the primary intentions of introducing these powers was to address concerns about cross-subsidisation, the ACCC may require Australia Post to keep records that relate to any of its regulatory roles.The ACCC may prepare and publish reports analysing the information provided to it under the record keeping rules and the Minister may direct the ACCC to prepare and publish reports analysing the information provided to it under the record keeping rules.The record keeping rules were developed following consultation with POAAL, Australia Post, and other bodies. POAAL's submissions were quoted extensively in the ACCC's recently published Preliminary Views.Following the release of its first report on potential cross-subsidisation within Australia Post, the ACCC again asked POAAL for our comments with regard to what information must be disclosed by AP. In the ACCC's report, some information was withheld because AP deemed it to be commercial-in-confidence. The ACCC is now seeking comment on the appropriate level of disclosure with regard to information AP deems to be confidential.The ACCC's report and other background information is available to download from the ACCC website at www.accc.gov.au.