Local Government Regulation 2012

If a local government applies the code of competitive conduct to a business activity, the local government must apply the competitive neutrality principle to the business activity including, for example, by—

removing any competitive advantage or competitive disadvantage, wherever possible and appropriate; and

promoting efficiency of the use of resources to ensure markets are not unnecessarily distorted.

However, subsection (3) applies if the local government conducting the business activity enjoys a net advantage over competitors, only because the local government is in competition with the private sector, that can not be eliminated to comply with the competitive neutrality principle.

For deciding charges to persons for goods or services provided in conducting the business activity, the individual advantages and disadvantages that make up the net advantage must be taken into account in deciding the required revenue under schedule 4, section 2.