Today we released our annual compliance report. It’s our independent assessment of compliance with Australian Government and Council of Australian Governments (COAG) best practice regulation requirements. Essentially, it considers whether a Regulation Impact Statement was prepared for each decision and if the regulation impact statement was published. It also includes information about post-implementation reviews.
The 2012-13 report shows an increase in compliance with the Australian Government’s best practice regulation requirements. At the decision-making stage, compliance was 97 per cent in 2012-13, up from 88 per cent in 2011-12. There were two non-compliant Australian Government proposals at the decision-making stage in 2012-13, compared with nine in 2011-12. ‘Exceptional circumstances’ exemptions were granted by the former Prime Minister (where no regulation impact statement is required to be prepared) on eight occasions during 2012-13, up from five in 2011-12.
Non-compliance with the post-implementation review requirements increased to three in 2012-13, compared with two in the previous year. Each instance of non-compliance was because the post-implementation review was not completed within a reasonable timeframe.
The report also shows an increase in compliance by COAG Councils and national standard-setting bodies in 2012-13. Compliance at the decision‑making stage was 86 per cent in 2012-13, up from 81 per cent in the previous year. COAG’s best practice regulation requirements were not met at the decision-making stage on two occasions in 2012-13, down from three in the previous year.
The 2012-13 report also discusses OBPR’s endeavours to embed best practice regulation across Australian Government agencies, COAG Councils and national standard-setting bodies, as well as assisting some developing economies in the APEC region.