The Treasurer of Western Australia gave written notice to the Economic Regulation Authority ( Authority ), dated the 22 January 2007, to undertake an inquiry into school bus operators' charter bus operations.
The inquiry has been referred to the Authority under Section 38(1)(a) of the Economic Regulation Authority Act 2003 ( Act ), which provides for the Treasurer to refer to the Authority for an inquiry any matter relating to an industry that is not a regulated industry.
In accordance with the Terms of Reference, the Authority is to consider and report on:
- the impact that the participation by school bus contractors in the commercial bus charter industry has on competition, prices and pricing policy, investment and business practices, and service quality and reliability in the industry;
- the revenues and costs of school bus contractors under their contracts with the Public Transport Authority; and
- whether, and how, the service charge model in the school bus service contracts could be amended to remedy any competitive unfairness which might arise from the participation by school bus contractors in the commercial bus charter industry.
The Authority published an issues paper on the inquiry on 30 January 2007 to explain the nature of the issues under review and to facilitate public comment and debate. The Authority invited submissions from stakeholders, industry, government and the general public on the matters raised in the issues paper. Submissions in response to the issues paper can be viewed here.
The Authority published the draft report on 2 May 2007. The Treasurer amended the reference to defer the final reporting date from 31 May 2007 until 17 July 2007, to allow sufficient time for public consultation on the Draft Report. Public submissions on the draft report can be viewed here.
The final report for the inquiry was delivered to the State Government on 5 July 2007 and the State Government tabled the report in Parliament on 14 August 2007.
