From July 1 2008, the AER is the economic regulator for covered natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines in all states and territories (except WA). As the AER is a constituent part of the ACCC, for administrative simplicity, all ACCC documents relating to the ACCC's former gas transmission regulation function have been maintained on the AER website.
The AER's functions and powers in relation to the economic regulation of covered gas transmission and distribution pipelines include:
approval of certain access arrangements required to be submitted by service providers under the National Gas Law and National Gas Rules
review of annual reference tariff variations in accordance with relevant access arrangements
annual monitoring of compliance of service providers' obligations under the National Gas Law and National Gas Rules
undertaking enforcement functions as required in relation to breaches of the National Gas Law, National Gas Rules and Regulations
hearing disputes in relation to the terms and conditions of access for relevant pipelines
approval of competitive tendering processes and and terms and conditions of access for competitive tender pipelines as required under the National Gas Law and National Gas Rules
other functions and powers required to be undertaken under the National Gas Law and National Gas Rules including those asscociated with the Gas Market Bulletin Board
Please note that the AER deals only with matters concerning natural gas. Any enquiries concerning liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) should be directed to the Transport Branch of the ACCC in its Melbourne office or email petrol.monitoring@accc.gov.au.