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Example Australian Government RISs

In preparing a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), officials often find it helpful to examine examples of RISs which have been assessed as adequate. The following examples have been published on this website for that purpose. They have been chosen to illustrate RISs for different types of regulatory proposals as well as different degrees of analysis. It should be noted that the amount of detail and depth of analysis in the RISs need to be commensurate with the magnitude of the problem and with the size of the potential impact of the proposals.

RISs prepared for the Australian Government are usually tabled in Parliament or otherwise made public. If tabled in Parliament they form part of the Explanatory Memorandum which is published for each Bill tabled in Parliament, and part of the Explanatory Statement for each legislative instrument tabled. Once tabled, many RISs may be accessed on the Australian Government's Commonwealth Law website [] (ComLaw) which incorporates the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Examples of Australian Government RISs

• Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery Management Plan 2002
• Disability Standards for Education 2005
• Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1999
• Fuel Quality Standards Bill 2000
• Fuel Standard (Petrol) Determination 2001 / Fuel Standard (Diesel) Determination 2001
• Solitary Islands Marine Reserve (Commonwealth Waters) Management Plan

Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery Management Plan 2002

• Sets out the management regime for a heavily depleted fishery resource.
• The RIS analyses an issue with competing short and long term objectives pertaining to ecologically sustainable development.

Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery Management Plan 2002 PDF version [ - 128 KB]
Bass Strait Central Zone Scallop Fishery Management Plan 2002 RTF version [ - 652 KB]

Disability Standards for Education 2005

This Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) has been prepared by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training, in association with the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department. Its purpose is to assist the Australian Government to make decisions regarding the provision of education and training that does not discriminate against people with disabilities on the ground of their disability. To achieve this, the RIS assesses the impact of legislating Disability Standards for Education (Standards) under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA).

The RIS identifies community concerns in relation to the participation of students with disabilities in education and training and the need for the elimination of discrimination on the ground of disability. Eliminating discrimination on the ground of disability, as far as possible, and ensuring, as far as practicable, that people with disabilities have the same rights to equality before the law in the area of education and training as the rest of the community are generally the objects of the DDA. The RIS considers a range of possible options for addressing these concerns. Primary among these are Disability Standards for Education.

The RIS concludes that Disability Standards for Education are the most appropriate option to support more effective achievement of the objects of the DDA. This strategy is consistent with the policy direction set by the then Attorney-General who, in 1995, requested the then Minister for Education, Employment and Training to assist with the production of disability standards in relation to the education of people with disabilities.

Furthermore, in December 2002 the unanimous report of the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee Inquiry into Education of Students with Disabilities recognised that the Standards are necessary to address the discriminatory practices it had identified.

The draft report on the Productivity Commission Review of the DDA (2003) also strongly supports the development of disability standards, and recommends that the DDA be amended to allow for standards development in "any area in which it is unlawful to discriminate on the ground of disability". The review report supports the DDA as the appropriate approach to providing enforceable rights to people with disabilities, and finds that the DDA has been more effective in the area of education than in any other area covered by the DDA. It also finds that disability standards tend to promote a uniform playing field and the Disability Standards for Education seek to address gaps in the DDA's provisions, in particular, through the extension of the unjustifiable hardship provision.

The RIS discusses the implications for various stakeholders of implementing the Standards, including potential costs and benefits arising from the Standards. The primary impact the RIS identifies is the greater clarity and certainty that the Standards would give providers in meeting their obligations under the DDA.

Complete Document

Disability Standards for Education 2005 PDF version [ - 128 KB]

Contents

Contents

Part 1   Background

Part 2   The problem or issue that first gives rise to the need for action
2.1   Objects of the DDA
2.2   Need to clarify provisions of the DDA

Part 3   The desired objectives
3.1   Clarification of rights and obligations
3.2   Enhancing the implementation of the objects of the DDA

Part 4   The options that may constitute viable means for achieving the desired objective
4.1   Consideration of the Options
4.2   Preliminary Conclusion
4.3   Development of the Disability Standards for Education

Part 5   Impact Analysis of the Implementation of Education Standards
5.1   Implications for students
5.2   Implications for providers

Part 6   Consultation
6.1   The 1997 Consultation Process
6.2   The 2000 Consultation Process

Part 7   Potential costs and benefits
7.1   2002 Costing Exercise
7.2   Independent cost-benefit analysis of the Standards (2003)
7.3   Findings of the 2003 Productivity Commission Review of the DDA

Part 8   Conclusion

Part 9   Strategy for implementation
9.1   Review of the Standards

Appendix A   Complaints to HREOC

Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1999

• The Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1999 regulates fishing on the ‘high seas’, outside Australia's 200 nautical mile zone.
• It is an example of a RIS on the implementation, in Australian law, of an international treaty signed by Australia.

Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1999 PDF version [ - 99 KB]
Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 1999 RTF version [ - 300 KB]

Fuel Quality Standards Bill 2000

• The Fuel Quality Standards Bill 2000 regulates the quality of fuel in order to reduce air pollution and to facilitate the adoption of improved engine and emission control technologies.
• The RIS is an example of a combination of quite complex technological, environmental and health issues with substantial investment cost implications for the refining industry. Reflecting that, the RIS is some 40 pages long. It sets out in detail seven different options. It provides estimates of the costs and benefits of the preferred option, including valuations of the avoided health care costs resulting from reductions in air pollution.

Fuel Quality Standards Bill 2000 PDF version [ - 210 KB]
Fuel Quality Standards Bill 2000 RTF version [ - 183 KB]

Fuel Standard (Petrol) Determination 2001 / Fuel Standard (Diesel) Determination 2001

• Sets standards for the key parameters (characteristics) of petrol and diesel that have a direct impact on vehicle emissions. The first set of standards - implemented on 1 January 2002 - applies to all petrol and automotive diesel supplied in Australia on or after that date.
• The RIS is an example of how to present information on a proposal that is actually a number of discrete and inter-related proposals. The RIS provides the analysis in such a way that the decision-maker can select from a menu of options (package of parameters) so as to maximise, overall, the benefits to Australia from having a national standard.

Fuel Standard (Petrol) Determination 2001 / Fuel Standard (Diesel) Determination 2001 PDF version [ - 183 KB]
Fuel Standard (Petrol) Determination 2001 / Fuel Standard (Diesel) Determination 2001 RTF version [ - 225 KB]

Solitary Islands Marine Reserve (Commonwealth Waters) Management Plan

• Sets out the management regime for a Reserve subject to increasing and competing pressures.
• The RIS is an example of an assessment of the regional economic, social and environmental impacts of government regulation.

Solitary Islands Marine Reserve (Commonwealth Waters) Management Plan PDF version [ - 177 KB]
Solitary Islands Marine Reserve (Commonwealth Waters) Management Plan RTF version [ - 1.25 MB]

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