{"id":"fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026","name":"Fuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026","slug":"fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176682,"registerId":"wa-fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Fuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nFuel, Energy and Power Resources Act 1972\n\nFuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026\n\nWestern Australia\n\nFuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used 1\n\n4. Minister may require information or documents to be provided 2\n\n5. Penalty for offences relating to these regulations 3\n\n6. Giving, disclosure or use of information or documents 3\n\n7. Delegation 4\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 6\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nFuel, Energy and Power Resources Act 1972\n\nFuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\n\t\tThese regulations are the *Fuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThese regulations come into operation on the day after the day on which these regulations are published on the WA legislation website.\n\nNote for this regulation:\n\nThese regulations continue in operation while the state of emergency declared in the *Fuel, Energy and Power Resources (Declaration of State of Emergency) Order 2026* subsists: see section 57(2) of the Act.\n\n##### 3. Terms used\n\nIn these regulations —\n\nMinister means the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation;\n\nrelevant authority means —\n\n(a) the Minister; or\n\n(b) an authority, department, instrumentality, person or body that is carrying out the administration of the Act under section 42 of the Act;\n\nspecified means specified or described in an order or direction made or given under regulation 4(1).\n\n##### 4. Minister may require information or documents to be provided\n\n(1) The Minister may make an order, or give a direction, requiring a specified person, or each person of a specified class, who is a producer, holder, supplier, transporter or user of fuel, or of diesel exhaust fluid, to give a specified relevant authority specified information or documents relating to the production, holding, supply, transportation or use of fuel or diesel exhaust fluid.\n\n(2) Without limiting subregulation (1), the order or direction may require details in relation to any of the following to be given —\n\n(a) written agreements or other documents;\n\n(b) contractual commitments;\n\n(c) current or expected capacity;\n\n(d) pricing;\n\n(e) customer behaviour.\n\n(3) The order or direction must require the specified information or documents to be given by a specified time or within a specified period.\n\n(4) The order or direction may require either or both of the following —\n\n(a) the specified information or documents to be given in a specified manner;\n\n(b) the specified information or documents to be given or verified by statutory declaration.\n\n(5) A direction under subregulation (1) must be given in writing to each person who is required to give specified information or documents under the direction.\n\n(6) Without limiting the *Interpretation Act 1984* section 76, the direction may be given to a person by emailing the direction to an email address provided by the person to a relevant authority if the person consents to the direction being given to the person in that manner.\n\n##### 5. Penalty for offences relating to these regulations\n\n(1) This regulation applies to the following offences —\n\n(a) an offence under section 50(7) or (8) of the Act if the order or direction is an order or direction made or given under regulation 4(1);\n\n(b) an additional offence under section 49(6) of the Act if the offence that is deemed to continue under section 49 of the Act is an offence covered by paragraph (a).\n\n(2) The penalty for the offence is —\n\n(a) in the case of an individual — a fine of $10 000;\n\n(b) in the case of a body corporate — a fine of $100 000.\n\n##### 6. Giving, disclosure or use of information or documents\n\n(1) A person required to give specified information or documents under an order or direction made or given under regulation 4(1) is authorised to give the specified information or documents to the specified relevant authority.\n\n(2) A relevant authority is authorised to use or disclose the specified information or documents for, and only for, the purposes of —\n\n(a) providing or securing supplies and services required by the community, or any substantial portion of the community; or\n\n(b) preventing supplies or services being disposed of in a manner prejudicial to the attainment of the objects of Part III of the Act.\n\n(3) Without limiting subregulation (2), a relevant authority is authorised to disclose information or documents under that subregulation to a national body or to an agency or authority of another State or a Territory.\n\n(4) A relevant authority is not authorised under subregulation (2) to disclose information or documents to the public in a form that would enable particulars relating to a specific person to be readily ascertained.\n\n(5) If a giving, disclosure or use of information or documents is authorised under this regulation —\n\n(a) no civil or criminal liability is incurred in respect of the giving, disclosure or use; and\n\n(b) the giving, disclosure or use is not to be regarded as —\n\n(i) a breach of any duty of confidentiality or secrecy imposed by law; or\n\n(ii) a breach of professional ethics or standards or any principles of conduct applicable to a person’s employment; or\n\n(iii) unprofessional conduct.\n\n##### 7. Delegation\n\n(1) The Minister may delegate any power or duty of the Minister under these regulations to a State Government Department or State instrumentality or any other person referred to in section 47(2)(f) of the Act.\n\n(2) The delegation must be in writing signed by the Minister.\n\n(3) A State Government Department, State instrumentality or other person to which or whom a power or duty is delegated under this regulation cannot delegate that power or duty.\n\n(4) A State Government Department, State instrumentality or other person exercising or performing a power or duty that has been delegated to them under this regulation is taken to do so in accordance with the terms of the delegation unless the contrary is shown.\n\n(5) Nothing in this regulation limits the ability of the Minister to perform a function through an officer or agent.\n\n![]()\n\nNotes\n\nThis is a compilation of the *Fuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026*. For provisions that have come into operation see the compilation table.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Published** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Fuel, Energy and Power Resources (State of Emergency) Regulations 2026* | SL 2026/40   1 Apr 2026 | 2 Apr 2026 (see r. 2) |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\nMinister 3\n\nrelevant authority 3\n\nspecified 3\n\n© State of Western Australia 2026.\n\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). To view relevant information and for a link to a copy of the licence, visit www.legislation.wa.gov.au.\n\nAttribute work as: © State of Western Australia 2026.\n\nBy Authority: ANDREW JONES, Government Printer\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"These regulations implement time‑limited information‑gathering, use and disclosure powers for fuel and diesel exhaust fluid actors during a declared state of emergency (reg 2, reg 4, reg 6). The text does not, on its face, expand the classes of persons or authorised purposes beyond those described in the regulations and the cited Act provisions (regs 3–7; cross‑references to s50, s49, s47(2)(f), s57(2))."},"complexity_factors":["Broad discretionary power for the Minister to require information from specified classes of persons involved in fuel or diesel exhaust fluid (reg 4(1)); the term 'specified' is set by order or direction (regs 3, 4(1)).","Wide scope of obtainable material: written agreements, contractual commitments, current/expected capacity, pricing and customer behaviour are explicitly listed (reg 4(2)).","Procedural and service requirements increase compliance detail: orders must set a time or period (reg 4(3)), may require a specified manner or statutory declaration verification (reg 4(4)), must be given in writing and may be emailed with consent (reg 4(5)–(6)).","Penalties are fixed monetary fines and attach to particular Act offences when the regulation orders apply, linking these regs to section 50(7)/(8) and section 49(6) of the Act (reg 5).","Limits and permissions on use and disclosure: authorities may use or share information only to secure/provide supplies or prevent prejudicial disposal, may disclose to national or interstate agencies but must not disclose identifying particulars to the public (reg 6(2)–(4)).","Legal immunities for authorised giving/disclosure/use remove civil/criminal and professional exposure for those acting under the regulation (reg 6(5)), which affects risk calculations for both providers and authorities.","Delegation architecture permits the Minister to delegate powers to departments, instrumentalities or persons referenced in the Act but prevents sub‑delegation by those recipients, adding administrative control points (reg 7(1)–(4); reference to s47(2)(f) of the Act).","Temporal limitation ties these powers to the subsistence of the declared state of emergency, so the regulations only operate for the emergency period (reg 2 note referencing s57(2) of the Act)."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations let the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation require producers, holders, suppliers, transporters or users of fuel (including diesel exhaust fluid) to provide specified information or documents during a declared state of emergency (reg 4). They set fixed fines for non‑compliance (reg 5), limit how authorities may use and share the information to supply‑security purposes (reg 6), and allow the Minister to delegate powers (reg 7)."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed — the full text of the regulations was not accessible. No comparison between original intent and final form is possible based on the available information."},"complexity_factors":["Document content is entirely unavailable — only the title and a broken-page notice were retrievable","Cannot assess regulatory complexity, cross-references, definitions, or operative provisions without the actual text","Emergency regulations of this type are historically complex in practice, but that cannot be confirmed here","The score of 2 reflects the minimal retrievable information, not the likely complexity of the underlying instrument"],"plain_english_summary":"These Western Australian regulations (2026) appear to set emergency powers over fuel, energy and power resources during a declared State of Emergency, likely allowing authorities to control, ration, or redirect supplies. They would primarily affect fuel and energy providers, businesses dependent on power, and the general public in an emergency.\n\nThe full text is unavailable here; obtain the regulations from the WA Parliamentary Counsel’s Office for definitive details."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations appear tightly scoped to their original emergency purpose. They create specific information-gathering powers directly tied to the declared state of emergency, with explicit sunset clauses and use restrictions. No evidence of scope creep beyond the emergency fuel supply management purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Only 7 regulations total, with straightforward sequential structure","Just 3 defined terms in the interpretation section","Minimal cross-referencing—primarily references to the parent Act (Fuel, Energy and Power Resources Act 1972) for offence provisions and delegation powers","Simple conditional logic: regulation 6 contains the only substantive limitation ('only for the purposes of...') with a clear exception in subregulation 3","No nested exceptions or 'except where otherwise provided' clauses","Clear temporal limitation tied to external instrument (State of Emergency Order)"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a Western Australian emergency regulation that gives the Minister for Energy extraordinary powers to demand information about fuel supplies during a declared state of emergency.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Allows the Minister to order fuel producers, suppliers, transporters and users to hand over sensitive commercial information (contracts, pricing, customer details, capacity)\n- Sets heavy fines for non-compliance: $10,000 for individuals, $100,000 for companies\n- Protects people who provide this information from being sued or prosecuted for breaching confidentiality\n- Restricts how the government can use this information—only for securing community supplies, not for public release that identifies specific businesses\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone in the fuel supply chain in WA (producers, wholesalers, retailers, transport companies, major users)\n- Government agencies coordinating emergency fuel supplies\n\n**Why it matters:**\nDuring an energy crisis, the government needs real-time data about fuel stocks and distribution to prevent shortages. But this overrides normal commercial confidentiality. The regulation balances emergency powers with protections—information can't be publicly released in a way that identifies specific companies, and whistleblowers/providers are shielded from legal action.\n\n**Key limitation:** These powers only exist while the specific state of emergency declared in 2026 remains active. Once that ends, these regulations automatically cease."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026","history":"/api/acts/fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/fuel-energy-and-power-resources-state-of-emergency-regulations-2026/documents"}}