The Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has celebrated 25 years of providing economic regulation and policy advice by reflecting on its history.
In the ICRC’s Twenty-five years of economic regulation in the Australian Capital Territory, Senior Commissioner for the ICRC, Joe Dimasi said the Commission and its predecessors had worked to promote the wellbeing of the Territory community since 1996.
“The Commission started operations in its current form in March 2000,” Mr Dimasi said.
“Our functions and work program have changed over time to respond to changes in Government policy priorities, consumer expectations, and industry conditions, and to developments in national regulatory frameworks,” he said.
“But we have always kept our focus on protecting consumers and the broader Territory community by promoting competition that works for consumers and the delivery of safe, reliable, efficient, high-quality utility services at reasonable prices.”
Mr Dimasi said that over the past 25 years, the ICRC and its predecessors developed advice on a diverse range of complex and contentious issues.
He said this included milk pricing; petrol prices; gas pricing; the water abstraction charge; wheelchair accessible taxi licence allocations; the ACT racing industry; ambulance service charges; competition in the supermarket industry; secondary water use; the costs of the Cotter Dam enlargement; and price and competition impacts of the Container Deposit Scheme.
He said the Commission was responsible for setting regulatory prices for electricity; water and sewerage services; bus fares (1999-2007); and taxi fares (2000-2007).
“Over the past 25 years, the Commission has successfully managed the perennial challenges inherent in being a small Agency with a heavy and diverse workload,” Mr Dimasi said.
“I want to thank the Commission’s staff, whose hard work and commitment have made us a small Organisation with a big impact.”
He said the ICRC strived to balance economic efficiency, environmental and social considerations so that its regulatory decisions and advice to Government were fair, reasonable and reflected the diversity of community perspectives.
The ICRC’s 12-page Twenty-five years of economic regulation in the Australian Capital Territory can be accessed at this PS News link.
