Third Party Access

Queensland has participated in a uniform national regulatory regime for natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines (the Access Regime) since 1998.  Previously, the Access Regime operated through the national scheme legislation applied by the Gas Pipelines Access (Queensland) Act 1998.

The National Gas Law (NGL) was passed by the South Australian Parliament, as lead legislature for national energy legislation in 2008 and subsequently applied in Queensland.  The NGL repealed the Gas Pipelines Access (Queensland) Act 1998, and enables third parties to gain access to certain natural gas pipeline services.

The NGL included the following reforms agreed by the Council of Australian Governments, under the Australian Energy Market Agreement:

• introducing an overarching objects clause to clarify the Access Regime's objectives
• changes to the Access Regime's scope to align it more closely with the national third party access regime under the Trade Practices Act 1974
• a light-handed regulatory option for gas pipelines
• incentives to encourage investment in new pipeline infrastructure to facilitate the development and operation of a national market for natural gas.