【正文】 d mercial functions and creating independent business units. These reforms have prevented crosssubsidisation and conflicts of interest and increased opportunities for petitors to enter the market for the petitive activities. Efficient operation of the natural monopoly elements is encouraged through a bination of price or revenue regulation and the application of service quality standards. For example, an independent regulator, the Australian Energy Regulator, was established to undertake economic regulation of the transmission and distribution monopolies in the energy sector. On average, real electricity retail prices Australiawide have fallen by 19 per cent since the early 1990s. Currently, ongoing reforms as part of the NRA include further measures to address structural issues affecting the efficiency and petitiveness of the electricity sector.Third party access regimeThe Australian Government has taken the view that the existence of natural monopolies should not preclude petition in upstream or downstream markets. Under NCP, an initiative to encourage petition in potentially petitive markets, which would otherwise be precluded by reliance on monopoly facilities, was the establishment of a national third party access regime. The national access regime supports the negotiation of access between the owners of significant infrastructure facilities and access seekers. It allows third parties to seek access to certain essential infrastructure services, on reasonable terms and conditions, where mercial negotiations on access have failed.The national access regime governs access to private infrastructure and is legislated under the TPA. On the other hand, access to state/territory government owned infrastructure, such as some ports and rail works, is governed by state/territory legislation and enforced by statebased regulators. One challenge that Australia has faced is that duplication in these third party access regimes creates plexity for businesses seeking access to essential facilities. 24 / 28Currently an initiative of the NRA is to simplify the regimes and make them consistent. All States/Territories have signed up to an agreement to certify their regimes under the third party access regime in the TPA. This will ensure all regimes have mon objectives and pricing principles.Restraining monopoly pricing behaviourIn addition to the above strategies, the Australian Government uses the powers of the TPA to discourage misuse of market power. For example, whilst all major airports have been privatised and retain control over their own pricing decisions, an independent regulator undertakes price monitoring of aeronautical services. This is to ensure that any market power held by the airports is not abused, recognising that the scope for airports with market power to abuse that power is partially constrained by mercial pressures, as well as by the TPA.INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTSThere are a number of institutions which play a key role in relation to petition policy and law in Australia. The TreasuryTreasury’s mission is to improve the wellbeing of the Australian people by providing sound and timely advice to the government, based on objective and thorough analysis of options, and by assisting Treasury ministers in the administration of their responsibilities and the implementation of government decisions. In carrying out its mission, Treasury is responsible for the following policy outes:sound macroeconomic environment。 effective government spending arrangementseffective taxation and retirement ine arrangements。 andwell functioning marketsCompetition policy is essential to wellfunctioning markets. Treasury is responsible for advising the Government on petition policy and for overseeing petition policy reform programs and their governance arrangements. This includes responsibility for developing legislation giving effect to Government policy in the area of petition, most frequently as part of the TPA. In carrying out this role, Treasury works closely with agencies such as the ACCC. 25 / 28Office of Parliamentary CounselThe principal functions of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) are drafting Bills for introduction into either House of the Parliament and drafting amendments of Bills. The objective of OPC is to enable the Government to carry out its legislative program and (subject to Government priorities) to assist Private Members with their legislative requirements, by drafting Bills and amendments of Bills and supplying them to the Parliament. The Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) plays a vital role in the institutional arrangements for petition law, as it does with other Australian laws. While the Treasury advises the Treasurer on petition policy and implements legislative programs, and the ACCC enforces the law, the OPC drafts the legislation. It does so in close consultation with Treasury.Treasury prepares and issues instructions to OPC about what the legislation should achieve, in line with Government policy, and consults with stakeholders where appropriate. The OPC then carefully drafts the legislation, in response to Treasury instructions and Government policy.Australian Competition and Consumer CommissionThe ACCC is responsible for enforcing the TPA. The ACCC was created out of the NCP petition reforms in 1995 but formally existed as the Trade Practices Commission from 1974. The ACCC also regulates specific markets, for example, the telemunications market. As well as enforcing the law, the ACCC provides information and education to businesses and consumers on their rights and obligations under the law. The ACCC is an independent statutory authority, which means that while it is a government agency, it acts independently of the government. The ACCC applies the TPA to achieve universal pliance of bu