The Deregulation Agenda
The Government has committed to reducing the regulatory burden on Australian businesses, non-profit organisations and consumers. This is consistent with larger commitments to address impediments to Australia’s long-term productivity growth.
The Government has signalled the importance of deregulation by giving it Cabinet-level status and two Ministers (The Minister for Finance and Deregulation, the Hon Lindsay Tanner MP and the Minister Assisting, the Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP). These Ministers have been given the task of driving reductions in the levels of business regulation.
The deregulation agenda is currently underway with the Department of Finance and Deregulation taking carriage of the agenda’s implementation.
Key elements of the deregulation agenda include:
- the Financial Services Working Group that is tackling the complexity associated with financial services advice and disclosure. The simplification of financial product disclosure documents will reduce the lengthy, complex and unreadable disclosure documentation in financial services and will reduce costs for business, investors and consumers;
- a strengthening of procedures that means new or amended regulation will only be enacted where necessary and at a minimum cost to business, non-profit organisations and consumers. This includes maintaining and improving the best practice regulation requirements. As well, a one-in-one-out principle has been introduced that requires that in bringing forward new regulatory proposals, Ministers identify other areas where regulation can be modified or removed to reduce compliance costs for business, thereby addressing the cumulative burden of regulation;
- the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Business Regulation and Competition Working Group (BRCWG), co‑chaired by Ministers Tanner and Emerson that is addressing ways to reduce the regulatory burden on business and enhance productivity and workforce mobility in areas of shared Commonwealth and State responsibility. In March 2008 COAG endorsed Implementation Plans for 27 areas of regulatory reform giving priority to establishing nationally consistent occupational health and safety laws. Other areas on the BRCWG agenda include trade measurement, rail safety regulation, product safety, trade licensing, further payroll tax harmonisation, mine safety and regulation of financial service delivery; and
- the introduction of a culture of continuous improvement in regulatory activity that will be demonstrated by the Government continually looking for opportunities to streamline regulatory processes.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR), which was transferred to the Department in December 2007, has a central role in assisting departments and agencies to meet the Australian Government's regulatory impact analysis requirements and in monitoring and reporting on their performance. It also serves a similar role for the COAG in relation to national regulatory proposals.
As part of the Department’s role in reducing red tape in the Australian Public Service, a framework has been developed to assist agencies to achieve an ongoing reduction in red tape. Links to relevant resources and contacts for further information are also available.
Contact for information on this page: deregulation@finance.gov.au
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