Announcement date
15 June 2023
Link to announcement
Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Amendment (Administrative Changes) Bill 2023 (legislation.gov.au)
Problem being addressed
The Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 (the GEMS Act) permits the Australian Government to set mandatory minimum efficiency requirements for products, which helps drive greater energy efficiency and exclude the poorest performing products from the market. The GEMS Act also allows the Australian Government to set nationally consistent labelling requirements to increase consumers’ awareness of options to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
The Final Report on the Independent Review of the GEMS Act (the Review) was released by the then Department of the Environment and Energy on 12 September 2019. The review was undertaken in accordance with Section 176 of the GEMS Act, which specifies a review of the operation of the Act be commenced as soon as possible after the fifth anniversary of its commencement date. The Review made 39 recommendations.
Proposal
On 15 June 2023, the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Amendment (Administrative Changes) Bill 2023 was introduced an initial tranche of administrative changes to address some of the recommendations of the Review.
More complex changes to the GEMS Act, to address the remaining recommendations, will be pursued following an in-depth consultative process with stakeholders.
Attachment A outlines the key elements of the proposal that are covered by this certification.
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Consistent with the Government’s Impact Analysis requirements, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water (DCCEEW) certified the Final Report on the Independent Review of the GEMS Act (Attachment B) as meeting the requirements of an Impact Analysis (IA).
Assessment comments
The Office of Impact Analysis (OIA) does not assess the quality of independent reviews, but does assess relevance. The OIA assessed that the options analysed in the certified report are sufficiently relevant to the proposal.
Regulatory Burden
DCCEEW notes there will be no change to regulatory costs associated with the reforms, but that all product-specific regulations will remain subject to Impact Analysis processes.