The AER is responsible for energy market regulation. Among its functions, the AER monitors, investigates and enforces compliance with obligations under the National Energy Retail Law (Retail Law) and National Energy Retail Rules (Retail Rules). This includes developing the Compliance procedures and guidelines (the Guidelines) that apply to energy businesses in jurisdictions that have adopted the Retail Law. It sets out the manner and form businesses must submit compliance information and data to the AER. The Guidelines also includes guidance on the carrying out of compliance audits under the Retail Law.
On 18 September 2018, the AER released version 6 of the guidelines, which incorporates new rules introduced by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), refines the reporting framework and provides new guidance material on compliance audits to better reflect the AER's compliance approach and priorities. At the same time the AER released an updated Practice Guide for Compliance Audits to further supplement the information on compliance audits in the Guidelines.
Version 6.0 of the Guidelines took effect on 1 April 2019.
Please note that the accompanying template was updated on 25 March 2019. Previous versions of the template will not be accepted.