On 7 July 2014, the Government announced plans to progress the Biosecurity Bill 2014 to replace the Quarantine Act 1908. The proposed biosecurity legislation is designed to reduce unnecessary red tape and provide a more flexible risk based approach to compliance. The reforms will lead to better outcomes for business and Australia’s biosecurity risk management. The legislation builds on and expands the existing benefits to the Commonwealth and industry members by improving partnerships to manage biosecurity risk and allowing industry to contribute to managing biosecurity risk in return for a commercial advantage. The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has agreed that the estimated regulatory cost savings is $6.9 million per annum. This is due to clearer, easier to use legislation and improved processes. However the compliance cost burden on some industry participants is estimated to increase. This is primarily through the increased regulation to manage the biosecurity risk associated with ballast water by domestic vessel movement. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared and certified by the department under the March 2014 Australian Government best practice regulation requirements, and has been assessed by the OBPR as meeting best practice.
- Biosecurity Legislation RIS – Word version [
123 KB] - Biosecurity Legislation RIS – PDF version [
456 KB]