PIAC welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the COAG Energy Council’s review of the limited merits review (LMR) regime in the National Electricity Law and the National Gas Law. PIAC’s view is that changes to the LMR framework are warranted. Our submission identifies a number of ways to address problems with the current regime and better protect the interests of consumers. PIAC does not at this stage support removing access to LMR. In our view this would reduce scope for consumer participation. Any move to a model based only on judicial review must be accompanied by significant protections for consumer interests through changes to rules of standing and costs protection. It would also need to be accompanied by significant changes to the initial decision making process to ensure consumer interests are properly protected.
