The Government has today announced a package of reform measures to improve how regulations are developed.
"Better regulation is an important part of the Government's commitment to improving productivity and supporting business," Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator Penny Wong, said.
Improving regulatory performance was identified at the inaugural Business Advisory Forum (BAF) in April and these reforms will be presented to the Forum on Thursday. Measures include a redesign of the Australian Government's regulatory impact analysis (RIA) process; moving to a 2-stage assessment process.
This reflects a key recommendation of the Independent Review of the Australian Government's Regulatory Impact Analysis Process conducted by David Borthwick AO PSM and Robert Milliner.
A two-stage RIA process will enable more accurate analysis and assessments of impacts of proposed regulation on business and other stakeholders and provide earlier opportunities for more substantive stakeholder consultations.
"We understand that businesses and the community wants rigorous due diligence of any regulatory proposals, and these reforms have been developed in consultation with business," Senator Wong said.
The operation of Commonwealth Government regulators will be enhanced, with new arrangements to make it easier for businesses to contact them and understand their role. Regulators will also be encouraged to establish ways of dealing with complaints if they do not already exist.
"The Government remains committed to reducing unnecessary red tape and these measures represent a new, more sophisticated approach to improving regulation," Assistant Treasurer, David Bradbury, said.
The Commonwealth will also produce an annual regulatory plan which will highlight major reform activity and likely stakeholder engagement opportunities. It will also report progress and outcomes of past review activity.
"This will enable those most affected by proposed regulatory changes to engage more fully in reforms," Mr Bradbury said.
Senator Wong said this announcement represents a substantial Commonwealth contribution to the COAG reforms.
"These reforms further strengthen our commitment to better regulatory management," Senator Wong said.
As part of today's announcement the Government has also released its final response to the Independent Review of the Australian Government's Regulatory Impact Analysis Process and the Productivity Commission's Identifying and Evaluating Regulation Reforms report.
The Government's response to the RIA Review and further information on the regulatory reform package can be found on the Department of Finance and Deregulation website.