The Government’s Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

The Energy Legislation Amendment Bill has many objectives including better preparing the energy market for sustainable energy projects and strengthening existing aspects of the energy market.

The NSW Bill amends 6 pieces of legislation including two 2 specific changes to the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act in Schedule 6 of the Bill.

The first change is to ensure pricing protections and states that if there is any inconsistency with calculations under section 77(7) – (7A) of the RLLC Act and the National Energy Retail Law (NSW), then part 5, Division 6A of the National Energy Law NSW (NERL) charges must be used. The drafting of part 5, Division 6A of NERL was not shared publicly at the time the amendment was proposed.

The second change has been a cause for concern because it proposed to omit section 77A of the RLLC Act – this reduces transparency for residents around operator obligations to disclose their charges and share the outcome of reviews of their retail contracts at specified times for the parent meter.

The Tenants’ Union made two recommendations in a briefing paper sent to Local MPS across NSW asking for the Bill to be amended.

1. Ensure that the drafting of National Energy Retail Law (NSW) Part 5 Division 6A does not affect residents’ ability to receive a discount on their daily supply charge when receiving low amps.
2. Remove Schedule 6(2) from the Bill to retain section 77A in the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013.

The recommendations had attracted some support but not enough and within days the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 was passed in the Legislative Assembly without amendments.

The Bill has since been assented to (on 26 November 2025) and it will bring a lot of positive change from the Government’s consideration of the IPART review. One such change is contained in amendments to the Electricity Supply Act 1995. That Act makes it unlawful to apply a charge or provide $0 credit per kilowatt-hour for solar-generated electricity a customer supplies to a retailer or an exempt seller. Operators who have refused to offer any credit for electricity residents produce will be required to modify their approach. For any residents in this position it is advisable that they enquire with the Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) about when this change comes into effect.

Despite the improved regulatory provisions from the Bill, we continue to hold concerns around the loss of section 77A from the RLLC Act, mentioned above. Without the transparency provided by 77A it is possible that the requirement to conduct a review of the electricity provisions in Part 7 of the RLLC Act within 3 years from the 25th September 2024 will not receive the proper scrutiny that it warrants.