In 1998, Western Australia proceeded to develop its legislative reforms governing access to its railway infrastructure in support of the national reform process.

The Government Railways (Access) Act 1998 was enacted by Parliament in November 1998 to establish a rail access regime that will encourage the efficient use of, and investment in, railway facilities by facilitating a contestable market for rail operations within the State.

This Act was subsequently amended and renamed the Railways (Access) Act 1998 (the Act) to more accurately reflect the circumstances that have prevailed since the sale of Westrail's freight business in December 2000 under the provisions of the Rail Freight System Act 2000.

The Government Railways (Access) Amendment Act 2000 further amended the Act to provide for the establishment of the Office of the Rail Access Regulator to oversee, monitor and enforce compliance by the railway owners with the provisions of the Rail Access Regime.

The development of the Railways (Access) Code 2000 (the Code) is a requirement of the Act. The Code, which is subsidiary legislation, was gazetted in September 2000. Thus, the Rail Access Regime is made up of the Act and the Code. Both became fully effective on 1 September 2001 when the Regime commenced.

Responsibility for the administration of the Regime was transferred to the ERA effective 1 January 2004 under the Economic Regulation Authority Act 2003.