Review of national competition policy reforms: Productivity Commission inquiry report

In 1995 the Australian, State and Territory Governments agreed to a program of competition policy reform. There has been substantial progress in the implementation of the National Competition Policy (NCP) over the past eight years, including in the related reform areas of electricity, gas, road transport and water. This report examines the impact of NCP and related reforms undertaken to date on the Australian economy and the Australian community more broadly. It includes a snapshot of progress in NCP implementation; contribution of NCP to Australia's recent economic performance; price and service quality outcomes for businesses and households and impacts on the financial performance of government business enterprises; social, employment, regional and environmental impacts; lessons learnt from NCP processes and outcomes that could help inform the development and implementation of a future nationally coordinated reform agenda; reform opportunities.