Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT 1997 - SECT 446

  (1)   If:

  (a)   a person (the first person ):

  (i)   connects customer equipment, or customer cabling, to a telecommunications network or to a facility; or

  (ii)   has under his or her control customer equipment, or customer cabling, connected to a telecommunications network or to a facility; and

  (b)   the manager of the network or facility has an honest belief that the equipment or cabling is, or is likely to be, a threat to the health or safety of persons who:

  (i)   operate; or

  (ii)   work on; or

  (iii)   use services supplied by means of; or

  (iv)   are otherwise reasonably likely to be affected by the operation of;

    a telecommunications network or a facility;

the manager of the network or facility may:

  (c)   disconnect the equipment or cabling; and

  (d)   if it is necessary to disconnect other customer equipment or other customer cabling for the purposes of achieving the disconnection referred to in paragraph   (c)--disconnect that other equipment or cabling.

  (2)   If:

  (a)   equipment or cabling is disconnected, or purportedly disconnected, under subsection   (1); and

  (b)   the ACMA is satisfied that there were no reasonable grounds for the belief mentioned in paragraph   (1)(b);

the ACMA may, by written notice given to the manager of the network or facility, direct the manager to reconnect the equipment or cabling.

  (3)   A person must comply with a direction under subsection   (2).

  (4)   If:

  (a)   equipment or cabling is disconnected, or purportedly disconnected, under subsection   (1); and

  (b)   the manager of the network or facility had no reasonable grounds for the belief mentioned in paragraph   (1)(b); and

  (c)   as a result of the disconnection, the first person suffers loss or damage;

the first person may apply to the Federal Court for the recovery from the manager of the amount of the loss or damage.

  (5)   An application under subsection   (4) must be made within 3 years after the damage was caused or the loss was suffered, as the case requires.