Gas access regime

Public inquiry

This public inquiry has concluded. The inquiry report was released by the Australian Government on 10 August 2004.

The National Third Party Access Regime for Natural Gas Pipelines (Gas Access Regime) was established in November 1997 by agreement of the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments. The Gas Pipelines Access Law, including the National Third Party Access Code for Natural Gas Pipeline Systems (the Gas Code) implements the access objectives agreed by all jurisdictions.

The Commonwealth Government has released its interim response to the Review of Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the National Access Regime) under which the Gas Code is certified. In addition, the imminent completion of regulators' final decisions in the first round of access arrangements means that there is now an emerging case history that allows an assessment of the effectiveness of the Gas Access Regime.

The Commission was to report on:

the benefits, costs and effects of the Gas Access Regime, including its effect on investment in the sector and in upstream and downstream markets
improvements to the Gas Access Regime, its objectives and its application
how the Gas Access Regime might better facilitate a competitive market for energy services
appropriate consistency between the Gas Code, the National Access Regime and other access regimes
institutional and decision making arrangements under the Gas Access Regime
the appropriateness of including in the Gas Code minimum (price and non-price) requirements for access to users.