The Default Market Offer (DMO) came into effect on 1 July 2019.
The AER’s role is to determine DMO prices annually. Our DMO price determination applies to residential and small business customers across New South Wales, South East Queensland and South Australia.
The DMO caps the prices a retailer can charge a standing offer customer. It also serves as a comparison price for market offers in these regions.
The Competition and Consumer (Industry Code – Electricity Retail) Regulations 2019 set out the regulatory framework for the DMO. On 3 November 2025, the Australian Government announced the outcomes of its review into the regulatory framework for the DMO including a package of recommended changes. This review aimed to strengthen the DMO framework and improve its effectiveness as a safeguard for customers who are unable or unwilling to engage in the electricity retail market.
The amendments to the DMO Regulations that give effect to the outcomes of the Australian Government’s review were published on 5 March 2026. The changes to the DMO framework were introduced in the 2026–27 DMO (DMO 8).
DMO guidelines
An additional requirement introduced through the amendments to the DMO Regulations was for the AER to develop, publish and maintain DMO guidelines setting out its intended approach to determining the DMO. The AER must have regard to the DMO guidelines when determining the comparison price and tariff cap for each regulated tariff and the comparison price for non-regulated tariffs, as well as for the purposes of meeting the DMO objective.
The DMO guidelines are intended to enhance transparency and improve regulatory certainty in our approach to annually determining the DMO.
On 18 September the AER published the draft DMO guidelines for consultation. The consultation is set to close on 16 October 2026.
We must publish the final DMO guidelines by 1 December 2026. We must have regard to these guidelines as part of the 2027–28 DMO determination.