Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales

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The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales (IPART) is an agency of the state government with responsibility for the regulation of prices in sectors such as public transport and utilities. The minister responsible for IPART is the premier, Morris Iemma.

IPART was founded in 1992. Its first minister was then premier Nick Greiner. Its first chairman was Tom Parry.

IPART is chaired by Michael Keating. The agency has a staff of 73 and a budget of $2.7 million.

Contents 1 Role 2 Membership 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Role

The tribunal's role is set out in various pieces of state legislation including the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal Act 1992, the Gas Supply Act 1996, the Electricity Supply Act 1995, the National Electricity (NSW) Law 1997 and the Transport Administration Act 1996.

Its seven core functions are to:

• set maximum prices for monopoly services provided by New South Wales government agencies, including public transport and water
• regulate pricing in the electricity industry
• regulate natural gas pricing and network access
• administer and monitor licensing of natural gas, water and electricity providers
• register agreements for access to certain public infrastructure
• investigate complaints concerning competitive neutrality
• administer the state's Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme

IPART is at times called upon to advise government on issues such as pricing, efficiency, industry structure and competition.

[edit] Membership

As of December 2006, the tribunal members are

• Dr Michael Keating (chairman)
• James Cox
• Cristina Cifuentes

Tribunal members are appointed by the premier.

[edit] See also

• Australian Gas Light Company
• Country Energy
• Energy Australia
• Integral Energy
• Public transport in metropolitan New South Wales
• Sydney Water

[edit] External links

• Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal website