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FACT SHEET
ECONOMIC REGULATOR BILL 2009
� The Economic Regulator Bill 2009 replaces the Government Prices Oversight
Act 1995.
� The legislation will establish the Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator,
which will assume the functions and powers of the Government Prices Oversight
Commission.
� The Regulator will therefore be responsible for conducting pricing policy
investigations and inquiries, and will investigate alleged breaches of the national
competition policy competitive neutrality principles.
� The Regulator will be the economic regulator for the electricity supply, gas, water
and sewerage industries as these are currently regulated by the person appointed
as Commissioner.
� The legislation will implement a new governance structure, whereby the Regulator
will comprise a board of three part-time members, with one member appointed as
Chair. This change will mitigate key-person dependencies, and recognises that
the workload is becoming inappropriately high for one person.
� Members of the Regulator are required to have expertise in the areas of industry,
economics, public administration or the regulation of utilities.
� The proposed board structure is the same as for the Liquor Licensing Board and
the Tasmanian Gaming Commission.
� The Regulator will continue to be provided with administrative, technical and
research support by the Department of Treasury and Finance.
� A separate Bill, the Economic Regulator (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009,
will make the necessary amendments to the relevant industry legislation to
recognise the changes implemented by the Economic Regulator Bill.
� The legislation will also authorise the Regulator to provide advice to the Transport
Commission on an appropriate methodology for setting and indexing maximum
taxi fares in Tasmania.