On 7 September 2017, the Senate referred the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Abolition of Limited Merits Review) Bill 2017 to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 16 October 2017.

The Bill amends the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to prevent the Australian Competition Tribunal from reviewing decisions made under the national energy laws (other than decisions relating to the disclosure of confidential or protected information) and to ensure that decisions of the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) are not subject to merits review by any other State or Territory body.

The closing date for submissions is 19 September 2017.