Licensing

Licensing under the Gas Supply Act 2003

The Gas Supply Act 2003 (the Act) regulates the distribution and retail of reticulated fuel gas (i.e. natural gas and LPG) to customers in Queensland. These activities are licensed by distribution authorities and retail authorities issued by the Regulator (the Director-General of the Department of Mines and Energy) under the Act.

Information on the types of distribution and retail authorities available are outlined in the Overview of Gas Distribution and Retail Licensing Information (PDF - 65KB).  The Overview also includes other information on the objectives and operation of the Act, including ringfencing requirements for distribution and retail of natural gas.

The authority holder must comply with the conditions of each authority. These conditions include the requirement that distribution and retail authority holders complete an annual report on their operations to the Regulator, and that distributors also submit reports to the Regulator on entries made to premises under sections 139 and 140 of the Act. Copies of pro-forma distribution and retail authorities and their conditions (including reporting templates) are available below.

Copies of distribution and retail authorities issued by the Regulator are also available below.

Applications for a distribution or retail authority must be made in writing to the Regulator. Application guidelines are available to assist prospective applicants, as well as current authority holders who wish to amend, transfer, renew or surrender an existing authority.

Authority pro-formas and conditions

The pro-forma authorities set out below show the conditions generally contained within distribution and retail authorities. However, in a particular case, the Regulator may choose to impose additional or different conditions. It should also be noted that there are a number of conditions and obligations applying to distribution and retail authority holders which are set out in the Gas Supply Act 2003.

• Pro-forma: area distribution authority (PDF - 123KB)
• Pro-forma: point-to-point distribution authority (PDF - 88KB)
• Pro-forma: area retail authority (PDF - 106KB)
• Pro-forma: general retail authority (PDF - 136KB)

Reporting requirements for gas authority holders

It is a condition of holding an authority that annual reports must be submitted to the Regulator. Templates for the annual reports are available below.

• 2008-09 Annual report - area distribution authority PDF - 64KB | Word - 220KB 
• 2008-09 Annual report - area retail authority PDF - 46KB | Word - 178KB

Holders of area distribution authorities are required to report entries made to premises under sections 139 and 140 of the Gas Supply Act 2003 within one month of such an entry being made.

• Entry Notification Report s139 PDF - 19KB | Word - 64KB
• Entry Notification Report s140 PDF - 20KB | Word - 63KB

Authorities Issued

Under the transitional provisions of the Gas Supply Act 2003, holders of former gas franchises under the previous legislation were taken to have been issued new area distribution and area retail authorities. These 'transitional' authorities are listed in Schedule 3 of the Gas Supply Act 2003.

In the majority of cases, these transitional authorities have been replaced. Those transitional authorities which have not been replaced with new longer-term authorities expired on 1 July 2004.

The distribution and retail authorities issued by the Regulator to date (which includes authorities replacing transitional authorities as well as authorities issued in response to fresh applications) are listed below:

Area Distribution Authorities

Current

• DA-A-005 - Maranoa Regional Council - issued 26 May 2004, amended 31 August 2006, and further amended on 1 October 2009 to change the name of the holder from Roma Regional Council to Maranoa Regional Council (PDF - 26KB)
• DA-A-006 - Western Downs Regional Council - issued 17 June 2004, amended 31 August 2006, and further amended on 1 Octoer 2009 to change the name of the holder from Dalby Regional Council to Western Downs Regional Council (PDF - 26KB) 
• DA-A-007 - Envestra Limited - issued 2 July 2004, amended 31August 2006 and amended 18 September 2006 (PDF - 25KB)
• DA-A-009 - APT Allgas Energy Pty Ltd - issued to Allgas Energy Ltd on 27 September 2004, amended on 18 March 2005 to show Allgas Energy Pty Ltd as holder, amended on 31 August 2006, and amended 14 June 2007 to show APT Allgas Energy Pty Limited as holder (PDF - 26KB)

No longer current

• DA-A-001 - Allgas Energy Ltd - issued 26 August 2003 - consolidated and superseded by DA-A-009 on 27 September 2004 (PDF - 423KB)
• DA-A-002 - Allgas Energy Ltd - issued 29 September 2003 - consolidated and superseded by DA-A-009 on 27 September 2004 (PDF - 464KB)
• DA-A-003 - Allgas Energy Ltd - issued 29 September 2003 - expired 1 July 2004 (PDF - 217KB)
• DA-A-004 - Sun Retail Pty Ltd - issued to ENERGEX Retail Pty Ltd on 29 September 2003, amended 13 September 2004, amended 6 June 2006 to show Sun Retail Pty Ltd as holder, and amended 31 August 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 278KB)
• DA-A-008 - Wesfarmers Kleenheat Gas Pty Ltd - issued 8 July 2004 and amended 31 August 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 276KB)
• DA-A-010 - Elgas Ltd - issued 13 October 2004 and amended 31 August 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 275KB)
• DA-A-011 (South Queensland) - Origin Energy LPG Ltd - issued 1 February 2005, amended 3 April 2006 and amended 31 August 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 320KB)
• DA-A-012 (North Queensland) - Origin Energy LPG Ltd - issued 1 February 2005, amended 29 November 2005 and amended 31 August 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 403KB)

Point-to-Point Distribution Authorities

Current

None

No longer current

• DA-P-001 - Origin Energy LPG Ltd - issued 31 March 2005 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 235KB)

Area Retail Authorities

Current

• RA-A-002 - Maranoa Regional Council - issued 26 May 2004 and amended on 1 October 2009 to change the name of the holder from Roma Regional Council to Maranoa Regional Council (PDF - 24KB) 
• RA-A-003 - Western Downs Regional Council - issued 17 June 2004 and amended on 1 October 2009 to change the name of the holder from Dalby Regional Council to Western Downs Regional Council (PDF - 25KB) 
• RA-A-004 - AGL Sales Pty Ltd - issued to ENERGEX Retail Pty Ltd on 13 September 2004, amended 6 June 2006 to show Sun Retail Pty Ltd as holder, amended 7 September 2006, amended and transferred to Sun Gas Retail Pty Ltd on 30 November 2006, amended on 12 March 2007 to show AGL Sales (Queensland) Pty Ltd as holder, and further amended and transferred on 30 September 2009 to show AGL Sales Pty Ltd as holder effective from 1 November 2009 (PDF - 29KB)
• RA-A-008 - Origin Energy Retail Ltd - issued 1 February 2005 and amended 29 November 2005 (PDF - 24KB)
• RA-A-009 - Origin Energy Retail Ltd - issued 31 March 2005 (PDF - 23KB)

No longer current

• RA-A-001 - ENERGEX Retail Pty Ltd - issued 22 December 2003 - consolidated and superseded by RA-A-004 on 13 September 2004 (PDF - 30KB)
• RA-A-005 - Elgas Ltd - issued 13 October 2004 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 234KB)
• RA-A-006 (South Queensland) - Origin Energy LPG Ltd - issued 1 February and amended 3 April 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 278KB)
• RA-A-007 (North Queensland) - Origin Energy LPG Ltd - issued 1 February 2005 and amended 29 November 2005 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 362KB)
• RA-A-010 - Wesfarmers Kleenheat Gas Pty Ltd - issued on 7 September 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 236KB)
• RA-A-011 - Sun Retail Pty Ltd - issued 30 November 2006 - surrendered effective 1 July 2007 (PDF - 449KB)

General Retail Authorities

Current

• RA-G-001 - Origin Energy (Vic) Pty Ltd - issued 8 July 2004 (PDF - 21KB)
• RA-G-002 - Australian Power and Gas Pty Limited - issued 24 January 2007 (PDF - 21KB)
• RA-G-003 - EnergyAustralia - issued 9 July 2007 (PDF - 21KB)
• RA-G-004 - Dodo Power & Gas Pty Ltd - issued 15 January 2008 (PDF - 29KB)
• RA-G-005 - AGL Sales (Queensland) Pty Ltd - issued to AGL Sales Pty Ltd on 31 March 2008, and amended and transferred on 30 September 2009 to show AGL Sales (Queensland) Pty Ltd as holder effective from 1 November 2009 (PDF - 23KB)

No longer current

None

Application Guidelines

Retail

• Guidelines for an area retail authority (PDF - 34KB)
• Guidelines for a general retail authority (PDF - 45KB)
• Guidelines to amend a retail authority (PDF - 30KB)
• Guidelines to transfer a retail authority (PDF - 46KB)
• Guidelines to renew a fixed term retail authority (PDF - 33KB)
• Guidelines to surrender a retail authority (PDF - 29KB)

Distribution

• Guidelines for an area distribution authority (PDF - 47KB)
• Guidelines for a point-to-point distribution authority (PDF - 48KB)
• Guidelines to amend a distribution authority (PDF - 29KB)
• Guidelines to transfer a distribution authority (PDF - 44KB)
• Guidelines to renew a fixed term distribution authority (PDF - 31KB)
• Guidelines to surrender a distribution authority (PDF - 29KB)