The key federal institutions that govern the renewable energy industry include the following.
The Council of Australian Government (COAG) was established in 1992 as the principal institution in governing issues of national significance or matters that need co-ordination by all Australian governments. The Ministerial Council on Energy (MCE) , as part of the COAG, was established in 2001, to provide overarching guidance in energy sector policy and planning. The MCE comprises ministers with responsibility for energy from the federal government and all states and territories. The MCE was merged with the Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources in 2011, as the Standing Council on Energy and Resources (SCER ). Later, the SCER was replaced by the COAG Energy Council in 2013, as the outcome of efforts to streamline the COAG council system (COAG Energy Council, 2018).
The Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources was established in 2001, and is responsible for policy-making and implementation in the energy sector, including renewable energy. Following the 2007 election, the responsibility for energy matters was transferred to the newly created Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism . This responsibility was again transferred to the Department of the Environment and Energy (DoEE) , after the 2016 election. The DoEE is responsible for administering various renewable energy legislations, such as, the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act (DoEE, 2018). It also oversees the institutions, responsible for implementing these legislations. These institutions are:
The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) was created in 2012 as the independent statutory authority, responsible for administering schemes legislated by the federal government for measuring, managing, reducing or offsetting Australia’s GHG emissions. One of these schemes is the Renewable Energy Target scheme, under the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act (CER, 2016).
Created by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act, theAustralian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is responsible for promoting the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable energy, through the provision of financial assistance for R&D programs in renewable technologies and early-stage commercialisation renewable projects. The ARENA was initially provided with A$3.2 billion funding over the period 2013-2020. The funding was later reduced to A$2 billion, as part of a A$6 billion budget-saving package (Hopkin, 2016).
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) was established by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act in 2012, with the aims to facilitate and increase flows of finance into the clean energy technologies – renewables, energy efficiency and low-emission technologies (excluding CCS and nuclear). The CEFC makes commercial investments in these technologies based on guidance provided by responsible ministers (i.e., environment and finance) in the forms of the Investment Mandate. It has been observed in the past few years that the Investment Mandate has tended to direct the CEFC to invest in certain renewable technologies (Keany, 2015).
Besides, in various Australian states, the Minister with energy portfolios also has the responsibility for making and implementing state-based support for renewable energy. This responsibility is normally assumed by the Department associated with the Energy Minister, such as, Department of Environment and Planning in New South Wales, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in Victoria, Department for Energy and Mining in South Australia, and Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy in Queensland. The Energy Minister could also delegate the responsibility to an authorised entity. For example, in New South Wales, the Energy Minister has transferred the FiT regulatory functions from the NSW Department of Environment and Planning to Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). This transfer took effect in 2015 when IPART received a referral from the Energy Minister to determine the annual solar FiT benchmark under Section43ECA of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (IPART, 2016).