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The ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference is an annual cornerstone event that brings together industry participants, policy makers, academics and regulators from around the world to discuss and debate the theory and practice of regulation.
2025 Regulatory Conference dates
The conference will be held in person on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 August 2025.
It will be at the W Hotel Brisbane.
Theme
This year’s theme will be 'Regulation in 2025: The need for speed, or a call for caution?'
Our 2 days of panels will cover these topics.
- Interoperability: a silver bullet for digital markets?
- Regulating access to non-physical infrastructure
- Managing competition and supporting innovation, reliability and affordability in the energy transition
- The future of gas in Australia
- Regulating ‘essential services’ facing uncertainty
- Data sharing, AI and privacy in energy markets.
Confirmed speakers

Margrethe Vestager – World Leaders Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Margrethe Vestager
Margrethe Vestager is a former Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age (2019-2024) and European Commissioner for Competition (2014-2024).
Globally renowned for her decisive leadership at the heart of Europe’s regulatory landscape, she claimed significant legal victories against tech giants and reshaped the digital regulatory framework in Europe through the passage of the Digital Markets Act.
She previously served as Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior (2011-2014) and Minister for Education (1998-2001) of Denmark, and as President of the ECOFIN Council (2012). She was political leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party (2007-2014) and has worked for the Danish Ministry of Finance (1993-95). Ms. Vestager holds an MSc in Economics (University of Copenhagen).

Professor Martin Cave OBE – Visiting Professor, London School of Economics
Professor Martin Cave OBE
Professor Martin Cave is an economist specialising in competition law and the regulation of networks, particularly communications. He has held professorial positions at Brunel University, Warwick Business School and the London school of Economics.
He was chair of the GB energy regulator, Ofgem, from 2018 to 2023, and an inquiry chair at the UK Competition and Markets Authority from 2012 to 2018.
Professor Cave is the co-author of several books in the regulation field, including 'Taming the Corporation – How to Regulate for Success', Oxford University Press, 2021; 'Spectrum Management', 2015; and 'Understanding Regulation', 2025. He has advised regulators and other public bodies in several countries throughout the world.

Sarah Court – Deputy Chair, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Sarah Court
Sarah Court commenced as ASIC Deputy Chair on 1 June 2021.
Prior to joining ASIC, Sarah was a Commissioner at the ACCC for three terms from May 2008 to May 2021. At the ACCC Sarah led the Commission’s enforcement and investigation work, and contributed extensively to strategic priority setting, statutory decision-making and leadership across the agency on a range of complex economy-wide legal and economic issues.
Prior to her time at the ACCC Sarah was a Senior Executive Lawyer and Director at the Australian Government Solicitor where she led national teams in government litigation including restrictive trade practices, competition and consumer law, administrative law, employment law and law enforcement litigation.
Sarah has held board positions with the Law School and Centre for Regulation and Market Analysis at the University of South Australia.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Adelaide, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Australian National University. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Philip Lewis – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, VaasaETT
Dr Philip Lewis
Dr Philip Lewis is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Finland’s VaasaETT, an energy consultancy providing complex energy market analytics across six continents, based on advanced data science.
Dr Lewis has 24 years of experience supporting consumer focused competition, new business models and energy transition across over 100 energy markets. High-level public projects have included director of the European Commission’s project identifying barriers to entry in all European markets (2021); lead consultant in the Nordic regulators’ review of market barriers; consultant in the ACCC review of prices and competition (2018); the world’s largest global stocktake of renewable integration projects for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA); leader of two national competition reviews for the Finnish Government; and participating in over two dozen other projects for State and National Governments, the European Commission and national and European authorities.
He is also a member of the E.DSO (European Distribution System Operators) Stakeholder and Innovation Council, founder and director of Traxis Group and co-founder of Smart Energy Europe (smartEn). He a former member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of Electricity and the source of Europe's first official definition of energy customer switching.
Other confirmed speakers
- Vanessa Beenders – Executive General Manager, Public Policy and Professionalism, Actuaries Institute
- Jacqueline Downes – Partner, Practice Group Leader, Competition, Consumer and Regulatory, Allens
- Sally McMahon – Commissioner, Australian Energy Market Commission
- Danielle Beinart – Executive General Manager, Networks and Technical, Australian Energy Market Commission
- Steve Davies – Chief Executive Officer, Australian Pipelines and Gas Association
- Anna Barker – Assistant Secretary, Competition Taskforce, the Commonwealth Treasury
- Alison Reeve – Energy and Climate Change Deputy Program Director, Grattan Institute
- Dominique van den Berg – Chief Executive, Energy Networks Australia
- Andrew Richards – Chief Executive Officer, Energy Users Association of Australia
- Catherine Wolthuizen – Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria
- Simon Corden – Chair, Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria
- Gerard Brody – Chair, Essential Services Commission
- Dale Yeats – Senior Economist, Houston Kemp
- Sandra Gamble – Chair, Marinus Link
- Dr Kari Dahlgren – ARC DECRA Fellow and Lecturer in Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Monash University
- Dr Will Taylor – Managing Director, NERA (New Zealand)
- James Plunkett – former Chief Practices Officer, Nesta (UK)
- Ellis Connolly – Head of Payments Policy, Reserve Bank of Australia
- Cameron Shields – Head of Regulation, Sydney Desalination Plant
- Damian Kassabgi – Chief Executive Officer, Tech Council of Australia
- Prof. Jeannie Marie Paterson – Director, Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, University of Melbourne
- Prof. Andrew Pitman AO – Climate Change Research Centre, University of NSW
- Dr Christopher Decker – Research Fellow, University of Oxford (UK)
- Dr Ian Oppermann – Commonwealth Data Standards Chair, Co-founder ServiceGen, Industry Professor, University of Technology Sydney.
Draft conference program
Day 1
Time |
Speakers |
|
---|---|---|
8.55 am |
Welcome to Country |
Songwoman Maroochy Barambah |
9.05 am |
Opening address |
AER Chair Clare Savage |
9.25 am |
What is infrastructure? |
Chair: Sarah Proudfoot – CEO, ACCC Keynote address: Prof. Martin Cave – London School of Economics (UK) Discussant: Simon Corden – Chair, Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria |
10.20 am |
Morning tea |
|
10.45 am |
Interoperability: a silver bullet for digital markets? |
Chair: Gina Cass-Gottlieb – Chair, ACCC Keynote presentation: Margrethe Vestager – World Leaders Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford; former Executive Vice President, European Commission (Denmark) Speakers:
|
11.45 am |
Pits and pipes to bits and bytes: regulating access to non-physical infrastructure |
Chair: Anna Brakey – Commissioner, ACCC Speakers:
|
12.30 pm |
Lunch |
|
1.30 pm |
Supporting innovation, reliability and affordability in the energy transition |
Chair: Lynne Gallagher – Board Member, AER Speakers:
|
2.15 pm |
Short term gain, long term pain: lower bills in economic regulation |
Chair: Catriona Lowe – Deputy Chair, ACCC Speakers:
|
3.00 pm |
Afternoon tea |
|
3.30 pm |
Data sharing, AI and privacy in energy markets |
Chair: Jarrod Ball – Board Member, AER Speakers:
|
4.15 pm |
Getting to net zero – does speed trump competition? |
Chair: Tim Jordan – Commissioner, Australian Energy Market Commission Speakers:
|
5.00 pm |
Day 1 close |
|
6.30 pm |
Drinks and canapes |
|
7.00 pm |
Dinner welcome |
Sarah Proudfoot – CEO, ACCC |
Day 2
Time |
Speakers |
|
---|---|---|
9.00 am |
The future of gas in Australia |
Chair: Matt Garbutt, Executive General Manager, Strategic Communications, Engagement, Compliance, Enforcement and Surveillance, AER Speakers:
|
10.00 am |
International interview |
|
10.30 am |
Morning tea |
|
11.00 am |
Sticking the landing: regulating essential services during uncertainty |
Chair: Nicole Ross – Executive General Manager, Infrastructure Division, ACCC Speakers:
|
11.45 am |
The Great Debate |
|
12.15 pm |
Closing address |
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb |
12.30 pm |
Close of conference and lunch |
Past conferences
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2024
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2023
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2022
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2021
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2020
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2019
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2018
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2017
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2016
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2015
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2014
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2013
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2012
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2011
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2010
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2009
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2008
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2007
- ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference 2006
- ACCC Regulatory Conference 2005
- ACCC Regulatory Conference 2004
- ACCC Regulatory Conference 2003
- ACCC Regulatory Conference 2002
- ACCC Regulatory Conference 2001
- ACCC Regulatory Conference 1999
- ACCC Regulatory Conference 1998