Governance of the energy market in Australia

Australia is an energy resource rich country. The laws and regulations for energy are strongly influenced by its federal constitutional and government arrangements. Subnational governments control most upstream production due to the vesting of energy resources in these jurisdictions. A process of energy law and policy centralisation over the 20th century has combined energy liberalisation and privatisation with the interconnection of energy transmission and distribution systems, creating national energy markets in electricity and gas. These national markets are governed under cooperative frameworks facilitated by reciprocal energy regulation laws, which have been enacted in participating jurisdictions. While carbon-based generation is still predominant, transition to renewable energy is underway, precipitating challenges for national energy market regulation. The failure of the national government to lead on climate change action has seen subnational governments take a proactive role on climate measures, while federal attention is directed to energy security and affordability.