The Office of the Gas Technical Regulator operates within the following legislative framework.  Up to date versions of the Gas Act 1997 and Gas Regulations may be purchased from Service SA, Government Legislation Outlet, 101 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, and can be viewed from the Legislation website www.legislation.sa.gov.au .

The Gas Act 1997

The Gas Act 1997 and associated Regulations were developed to provide the legislative frame work to ensure that South Australian gas consumers continued to have access to a safe, reliable, and quality gas supply as well as provide for safe gas installation work and appliances in a competitive gas market.

The objectives of the Act are:

• to promote efficiency and competition in the gas supply industry
• to promote the establishment and maintenance of safe and efficient systems for gas distribution and supply
• to establish and enforce proper standards of safety, reliability and quality in the gas supply industry
• to establish and enforce proper safety and technical standards for gas installations and appliances
• to protect the interests of gas consumers.

Functions of the Technical Regulator

The Technical Regulator has the following functions:

• monitoring and regulation of safety and technical standards in the gas supply industry
• monitoring and regulation of safety and technical standards with respect to gas installations and gas appliances
• providing advice in relation to safety and technical standards in the gas supply industry to the Essential Service Commission (ESCOSA) at ESCOSA's request
• any other functions assigned to the Technical Regulator under the Gas Act 1997.

Access Legislation

To promote competition in the gas supply industry, State and Commonwealth legislation provides for "third party access".  For information about access, go to www.escosa.sa.gov.au.  ESCOSA is the pricing and access regulator with respect to the natural gas distribution network.