Minister for Finance and Deregulation Senator Penny Wong and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury have welcomed the participation of state and territory government officials at a Standard Business Reporting (SBR) symposium in Canberra today.
The meeting was convened by the Commonwealth Treasury to foster a greater awareness amongst the states and territory governments of SBR's potential to reduce red-tape for business, as well as its capability in other areas such as more efficient exchange of data between government departments and agencies.
"SBR can drive productivity and reduce paperwork by making it easier and faster for businesses to meet their Government reporting obligations," said Mr Bradbury.
"Businesses can use SBR-enabled software to prepare and lodge key government forms directly from their software to government agencies using a single secure logon called an AUSkey.
"Well over 115,000 business reports have been lodged under SBR this financial year and the sharp increase in lodgments reflects increased business confidence in the SBR solution."
As part of COAG's Seamless National Economy reforms, SBR was launched in mid-2010 to reduce the regulatory reporting burden on business.
"These reforms are key to cutting red tape, to improving productivity and to boosting competition," Senator Wong said.
"Reforms like SBR mean businesses can spend less time on administration and more time on selling their products and services."
"We want state and territory governments to drive uptake of SBR in their own jurisdictions, to help local businesses use this efficient reporting solution." COAG and its Business Advisory Forum identified the 'Red Tape Challenge' as one of seven priority areas of competition and regulatory reform.