AEMO is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act. We operate on a cost recovery basis and recover our operating costs through fees paid by market participants. Our members are made up of Australian governments (60%) and industry participants (40%).  

AEMO operates under the governance of a Board of nine skills-based non-Executive Directors and the Chief Executive Officer.

The Board’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Oversight of AEMO’s activities to achieve the objectives set out in its Constitution.
• Setting AEMO’s goals and strategy.
• Determining the financial, operational, human, technological, and administrative resources AEMO needs to meet its objectives and goals
• Establishing and maintaining adequate and effective reporting lines and procedures.
• Approving AEMO budgets and monitoring compliance with financial reporting obligations.
• Appointing the Managing Director.
• Reviewing and assessing the performance of AEMO’s senior management.
• Establishing and approving the charters of Board Committees.
• Establishing effective controls and procedures to enable key risks to be identified, assessed, and managed.
• Monitoring compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements including occupational health and safety, equal opportunity, environmental, corporate governance, and reporting obligations.
• Reporting to AEMO’s members.

The day-to-day management of AEMO is delegated to the Managing Director with support from Board Committees as appropriate.

AEMO operates within a broader energy market governance structure alongside the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) and the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).

The Board has approved various policies and procedures as part of its Corporate Governance Framework which include:

• Board Charter

Board Committee Charters

• People & Remuneration Committee Charter
• Nomination Committee Charter
• Risk & Audit Committee Charter
• Technical & Regulatory Committee Charter

Corporate Policies

• Compliance Policy
• Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Risk Management Policy
• Whistleblower Policy
• Work Health, Safety and Environment (WHSE) Policy

Conflict of Interests Guidelines

• Director Interests Protocol

2015 Review of Governance Arrangements for Australian Energy Markets

The Final Report of the Review of Governance Arrangements for Australian Energy Markets to the COAG Energy Council was published in October 2015.

The Panel concluded that the division of functions established by the current governance arrangements for Australian energy markets is fundamentally sound and that Australian energy market governance is amongst best practice internationally.

The COAG Energy Council responded to the Review on 4 December 2015. It welcomed the Review’s observation that the division of functions established by current governance arrangements remains appropriate for serving the needs of the Australian Energy Market Agreement and the national energy objectives.