IPART has released its Final Report on how it regulates NSW council domestic waste management (DWM) annual charges.
In the context of the NSW Office of Local Government’s (OLG)’s regulatory role and commitment to its recommended regulatory approach for DWM annual charges, we have decided not to implement an indicative ‘benchmark’ waste peg.
Each year, IPART must decide whether to set a maximum percentage (‘waste peg’) by which councils can increase their DWM annual charges.
We reviewed DWM annual charges to inform how we make our decisions and ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect ratepayers going forward. This was after we found relatively large increases in these charges in recent years alongside increases in waste sector costs.
We would like to thank everyone for engaging with us through making submissions and participating in the review. Your feedback has been valuable to us and was a key input in making our final decisions and recommendations.
IPART initially proposed to set an indicative ‘benchmark’ waste peg and report on councils’ performance against this benchmark. However, many stakeholders raised concerns that the benchmark waste peg would create a disincentive to meet the NSW Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041 (NSW waste strategy) targets.
We have heard stakeholders’ concerns and recognise the importance of the waste strategy in helping reduce emissions from waste and respond to climate change. We also recognise the challenges and uncertainty councils face as they implement the waste strategy.
Instead of a benchmark waste peg, our Final Report welcomes and accepts the regulatory approach proposed by OLG.
We recommend OLG implement its regulatory approach to provide further guidance to councils on setting DWM annual charges and undertake targeted investigation of councils that may be imposing unjustifiably high DWM charges on their communities.
We have also decided not to limit DWM annual charges for the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 July 2024 (see our Fact Sheet) and intend to make future decisions on DWM annual charges in the context of OLG’s new regulatory approach.
IPART would welcome the opportunity to support OLG in improving regulation and transparency of DWM annual charges going forward. We also encourage effective community consultation on DWM annual charges.