The progression of this review was included in the comprehensive energy market reform package agreed by SCER on 23 November 2012 and endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments on 7 December 2012.
Draft report
On 9 September 2013 the AER provided the Standing Council on Energy and Resources (SCER) with a submission to its Review of Enforcement Regimes under the National Energy Laws. The submission provides comment on the review’s draft report which was prepared by Allens and NERA Economic Consulting.
Final report
In December 2013, the Review of Enforcement Regimes under the National Energy Laws was released by the former Standing Council on Energy and Resources (SCER), now COAG Energy Council.
In February 2014 the AER provided comment on the recommendations of the report. We considered that the proposed amendments to the enforcement regime are in the long term interests of consumers and the integrity of the energy markets, but our submission identified some areas for further consideration.
COAG energy council discussion Paper: Key recommendations
In May 2014 Ministers agreed further consultation was necessary on the key recommendations. In October 2014 the AER made a submission to the COAG Energy Council’s discussion paper on the final report, supporting the final report’s key recommendations.
COAG energy council consultation paper: Proposed policy position
In April 2016, COAG EC Officials published a paper for consultation on the proposed policy positions for the following recommendations:
- Recommendation 1: considers the expansion of the existing types of orders that can be made by a court on application by the Australian Energy Regulator.
- Recommendation 7 and 8: considers whether there should be a general increase in civil penalty and infringement notice amounts.
- Recommendation 9: considers principles that Energy Ministers may consider in determining which breaches of the national energy laws would be subject to civil penalty provisions.
In June 2016 the AER made a submission in response to the COAG EC Official's consultation paper. We consider the policy positions outlined in the consultation paper are positive steps in providing the courts with additional powers, they would also provide the AER with more robust enforcement powers to support our role. We encourage the continued work on all of the recommendations from the Final Report.
More information
More information on the Review of National Enforcement Regimes can be found on the COAG Energy Council's website.