The Act is implemented through the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Regulation 2001, which specifies the regulatory regime for governing the MRET, especially the administration of registration and accreditation of the Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and the issuance of exemption certificates to emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries. The Regulation has been revised several times since its inception, to reflect amendments made to the underlying Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act (as noted above).

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act was enacted in 2011, with a purpose to improve the competitiveness of renewable energy technologies, and to increase the supply of renewable energy in Australia – through the provision of financial assistance for research and the commercialisation of renewable technologies. The Act establishes the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) for this purpose (ARENA, 2018a). The funding allocation for ARENA was initially at A$3.2 billion over the period 2013-2020, and was later reduced to A$2 billion, as a result of the introduction of the Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013, and the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016 (ARENA, 2018b). In 2014, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Repeal) Bill was tabled in the Parliament, with the intention of repealing the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011, which would have the effect of abolishing the ARENA (Parliament of Australia, 2014a). This Bill was however rejected in the Parliament, due to strong public opposition – 129 out of 132 public submissions opposed the Bill (ARENA, 2014).

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012 was enacted in 2012, with the objective of financing clean energy projects (such as, renewable energy, and energy efficiency) that could help lower Australia’s GHG emissions. The funding allocation is at A$2 billion each year, for five years from 1 July 2013. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is established by the Act to manage this funding. In 2013, a Bill was proposed in the Parliament, to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act (Parliament of Australia, 2013). This Bill was however blocked in the Senate, and after a long period of discussion, abandoned in 2016.

Australian state governments have also introduced a range of legislations for regulating renewable energy within their jurisdictions. For example:

In New South Wales (NSW), the state government introduced theRenewable Energy Action Plan in 2013, with the aim to guide the development of renewable energy industry, and to support the national target of 20% renewable generation by 2020. Specific objectives outlined in the Plan are: attracting renewable investment and projects, building community support for renewable energy, and growing expertise in renewable technology (NSW Department of Planning & Environment, 2016). Besides, a scheme was legislated in 2009, as the Section 15A of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW) , to provide fixed feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) for household solar PV installations. The scheme is known as the Solar Bonus Scheme. This scheme initially set the FiTs at 60 c/kWh. However, the government announced major changes to the scheme in 2010, including a reduced FiTs of 20c/kWh for new participants. The scheme was ended in 2016 (NSW Department of Industry, 2016). Since then, solar FiTs began to be provided in NSW under the arrangements known as Voluntary Retailer Contribution, which allows each retailer to set their own FiTs. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is required by the Section 43ECA of the Electricity Supply Act 1995 (NSW) to determine a voluntary FiT benchmark for electricity retailers (IPART, 2016).

The Victorian government enacted the Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act in 2017, as part of a package of policy reforms designed to deliver investment and jobs in the state. The Act is targeted to ensure 25 per cent of the state’s electricity generation from renewable sources by 2020, and 40 per cent by 2025. The Victoria Renewable Energy Auction Scheme (VREAS) is created to achieve these targets (DELWP, 2018a). Besides, under the Electricity Industry Act 2000 , various forms of FiTs had been provided to renewable technologies until 2016. In 2017, the Act was amended to consolidate these FiTs with the passage of the Energy Legislation Amendment (Feed-in Tariffs and Improving Safety and Markets) Bill. The Bill also requires the Essential Services Commission to determine the rates of FiTs each year (DELWP, 2018b).

In South Australia, the state government enacted the Climate Change and Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Act in 2007. The Act includes a renewable energy target of at least 20 per cent of electricity generation and consumption by 2014, which was increased to 33 per cent by 2020 in 2009, and 50 per cent by 2025 in 2014. Besides, FiTs have also been provided in the state to encourage the uptake of residential rooftop solar PV systems. These FiTs are regulated by theElectricity (Feed-in Scheme – Solar Systems) Amendment Act 2008,and the Electricity (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2011 (South Australian Government, 2018).

In 2016, the government of Australian Capital Territory (ACT) legislated a target of sourcing 100% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources. The ACT government also enacted the Electricity Feed-in (Large-scale Renewable Energy Generation) Act in 2011, which establishes an auction scheme for procuring renewable projects. Under the scheme, private investors are invited to bid for renewable projects. Winners are awarded long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with ‘contract for difference’ FiTs (ACT Government, 2017). Similar action schemes have also been introduced in Queensland (QLD) for acquiring new renewable capacity, under the Powering Queensland Plan (DMEW, 2018).

The previous sections presented key policies and legislations for promoting renewable generation in Australia. These policies and legislations have been made and implemented by a range of institutions at both federal and state levels. Figure 1 provides a broad contour of the current institutional structure for governing renewable energy industry. Further details are discussed as follows.