Meeting papers

SPECIAL MEETING                                                                          30 JUNE 2025


4.3          APPLICATION OF NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY REFORM


Author             Financial Services Manager, Pauline Coles
                   Financial Services | Corporate Services Department
Index              Subject / 22.11 National Competition Policy
Attachments        None


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Each financial year Council is required to decide whether to apply National Competition Policy (NCP)
reform to its identified business activities. NCP reform provides greater transparency over Council
business, assists with removing any anti-competitive conduct and ensures the best allocation of
Council's limited resources. Council has adopted NCP reforms with respect to its Waste
Management and Holiday Parks business activities since de-amalgamation in 2014.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Financial Services Manager to the Special Meeting dated 30
June 2025 and
A. Continue to apply the Full Cost Pricing reform option to its Waste Management business activity
   for the 2025/26 financial year in accordance with sections 44(1)(b) and 47(7) of the Local
   Government Act 2009 and section 19(3) of the Local Government Regulation 2012; and
B. Continue to apply the Code of Competitive Conduct to the Holiday Parks business activity for
   the 2025/26 financial year in accordance with section 47 of the Local Government Act 2009.


REPORT
The Local Government Act 2009 requires Council to decide each financial year whether to apply
National Competition Policy (NCP) reform to its identified business activities.

Certain activities of Council are required to be identified as business activities if they trade in goods
and services that could potentially be delivered by a private sector firm for the purposes of earning
profits in the absence of Council involvement. They do not include the non-business, non-profit
activities of Council such as libraries, aquatic centres, parks maintenance,tc.

The primary purpose for Council to apply NCP reforms to its business activities is to assist in
removing anti-competitive conduct, encourage greater transparency in the operation of its
competitive activities and improve the allocation of Council’s limited resources.

A number of different reform options are provided under legislation for application to identified
business activities. Commercialisation or Full Cost pricing reforms are generally applied to larger or
financially significant business activities, whereas the Code of Competitive Conduct is applied to the
smaller or prescribed business activities.

The general premise to consider is that the larger the Council business activity the larger the potential
financial impact on the local economy and potential competitors, and hence greater level of reform
required to ensure ongoing competitive neutrality.




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