National regulators, market institutions and other bodies

National Cabinet and National Federation Reform Council

The National Cabinet is a forum for the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers to meet and work collaboratively.

Established on 13 March 2020, it is chaired by the Prime Minister and operates according to guiding principles set out in the Commonwealth Cabinet Handbook. The Commonwealth and state and territory governments individually remain responsible for the implementation of decisions arising from the National Cabinet in their jurisdiction.

National Cabinet establishes Ministerial Councils for the Commonwealth and state and territory ministers to work collaboratively on issues specific to their portfolio areas through intergovernmental meetings.

Energy ministers' roles

The Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council (established by National Cabinet) and its Energy Ministers Sub-Group (EMSG) are Ministerial forums for the Commonwealth, Australian states and territories, and New Zealand. They work together on key reforms in the energy and climate change sectors.

Energy ministers provide:

  • national oversight and coordination of energy policy development, legislation and institutional arrangements—addressing opportunities and challenges facing Australia's energy sector into the future
  • national leadership so broader convergence issues and environmental impacts are considered in energy sector decision-making.

The Australian Energy Market Agreement (AEMA) underpins the governance and institutional arrangements for the national electricity and gas markets. This includes the roles of energy ministers acting as the Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE). MCE is the term for the energy ministers collectively.  The MCE has continuing policy and oversight roles in the AEMA and a small number of statutory roles under the national energy laws.

Queensland’s role in national energy markets

Queensland is part of Australia’s national energy market and applies national energy laws through state legislation. This includes the National Electricity Law, National Gas Law and National Energy Retail Law (NERL). These laws ensure the same rules and protections apply in all participating states and territories. Queensland’s energy policy and regulation are coordinated nationally through bodies like the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council (ECMC).

Australian Energy Market Operator

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) was established in 2009 and is responsible for:

  • the day-to-day operation and administration of the wholesale National Electricity Market (NEM)
  • the wholesale gas market in Victoria and gas short-term trading markets in South Australia and New South Wales
  • retail gas markets in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia.

AEMO also undertakes a range of other functions, including:

  • preparation of an annual statement of opportunities for the National Electricity Market and gas markets across Australia
  • preparation of the Integrated System Plan
  • operation of the gas trading markets and the gas market Bulletin Board.

Australian Energy Regulator

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) was established in 2005. Although originally part of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), it operates as a separate statutory body performing its functions independently.

The AER is responsible for:

  • economic regulation of electricity and gas transmission and distribution networks
  • monitoring and enforcing compliance with national energy market legislation, including the National Electricity Law, the National Gas Law and the NERL.
  • enforcing the consumer protection framework under the NERL and National Energy Retail Rules (NERR), which regulate the rights and obligations of energy retailers and consumers in participating jurisdictions, including Queensland.

Australian Energy Market Commission

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), established in 2005, is the national rulemaking and market development body for the national energy markets. It is jointly funded by the states and territories.

The AEMC:

  • conducts reviews of matters under national energy legislation, either following a direction from energy ministers or on its own initiative, including reviewing the effectiveness of competition in energy markets
  • manages the rule change process, consulting and deciding on rule changes proposed by stakeholders, including energy ministers
  • hosts the Reliability Panel, which monitors, reviews and reports on the safety, security and reliability of the NEM.

Energy Consumers Australia

Energy Consumers Australia was established by energy ministers in 2015 as the independent, national advocacy body for residential and small business energy consumers.  It provides and enables evidence-based advocacy on the issues that affect energy consumers, including approving grant funding to support not-for-profit organisations to pursue quality advocacy initiatives.

Australian Competition Tribunal

The Australian Competition Tribunal is a review body established under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cwlth). A review by the tribunal is a re-hearing or a re-consideration of a matter (albeit on limited material for some reviews).

The tribunal may perform all the functions and exercise all the powers of the original decision-maker for the purposes of review. It can affirm, set aside or vary the original decision.

In the energy sector, the Tribunal's key role is to undertake, on application, judicial reviews of decisions made by the Australian Energy Regulator.