On 27 March 2014, the Australian Government, tabled legislation to repeal the Offshore Resources Activity Act which was intended to prescribe relevant visa requirements for non-citizens employed in the offshore resources industry. The legislation would have required the development of a dedicated visa pathway for the offshore resources industry and may have included capacity to include labour market or salary criteria, to undertake character and health checks on visa applicants, and to provide greater clarity on the number of non-citizens actually working in Australia’s offshore maritime zones. The Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) notes that the introduction of a visa requirement would have only created red tape in order to confirm the status of a foreign national working in a relevant migration zone in Australia’s offshore resources industry.
Published Impact Analyses
Official website for Published Impact Analyses for decisions announced by the Australian Government, Ministerial Forums and National Standard Setting Bodies.
On 24 March 2014, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries announced a public consultation on proposed Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Exhibited Animals. The proposal aims to meet community values and expectations regarding the welfare of exhibited animals by specifying uniform standards and guidelines for all animals kept for exhibition purposes, including those in zoological parks (zoos), wildlife parks and aquariums but excluding circus animals. Currently, the primary responsibility for animal welfare within Australia rests with individual states and territories, which exercise legislative control through ‘prevention of cruelty to animals Acts’ and other legislation.
On 20 March 2014, the Attorney-General introduced to Parliament two Bills to establish cost recovery for the Commonwealth Marriage Celebrants Programme and make other changes to the administration of the programme and marriage requirements. The Bills:
On 26 March 2014, the Australian Government tabled legislation aimed at protecting the images and indicia associated with major sporting events. The legislation would extend the existing trademark and copyright protection offered to organisers and sponsors of major sporting events by protecting certain words, phrases and images associated with these events in an effort to reduce the likelihood of ambush marketing. Remedies available for event organisers include injunctions, damages, corrective advertisements and the seizure of offending goods. Initially, the events protected would be the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup 2015, the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup 2015, and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. The proposal is likely to have a measurable but contained impact on the economy.
Intellectual Property Australia has released the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill 2014 for consultation. The amendment will enable the Australian Federal Court in limited circumstances to grant a license to export patented medicines to countries experiencing a serious epidemic, in cases where negotiations with patent owners have failed. The legislation implements article 31 of the World Trade Organisation ‘Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights’ to which Australia is a signatory.
On 19 March 2014, the Government announced that it would revoke the Fair Work Principles (‘Principles’) and the Commonwealth Cleaning Service guidelines (‘Guidelines’). The aim of the Principles is to ensure Government procurement decisions are consistent with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Fair Work Act). The Guidelines contain mandatory requirements that relate to Australian Government Cleaning Services tenders and contracts, and set out minimum rates of pay and a number of cleaning services industry workplace relations mandatory practices. The revocation of the principles and Principles and Guidelines are expected to reduce compliance costs for firms tendering for and providing goods and services to the Commonwealth Government. These costs are estimated to be in the order of $5 million per year over 10 years.
On 6 March 2014 the Qantas Sale Amendment Bill 2014 was introduced into Parliament. The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Qantas Sale Act 1992 (‘the Act’) to remove the foreign ownership and other restrictions that apply to Qantas but do not apply to other airlines based in Australia. The Bill also amends the Air Navigation Act 1920 to allow Qantas to be included in the definition of an Australian international airline, meaning that Qantas will be subject to the same regulatory framework, including foreign ownership limits, as other ‘Australian international airlines’. The Prime Minister granted an exemption from the Regulation Impact Statement requirements because urgent and unforeseen events arose, requiring a decision before an adequate RIS could be prepared.
On 19 March 2014, the Prime Minister announced the repeal of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). This announcement gives effect to an election commitment and is part of the Government’s broader deregulation agenda. The announced repeal of the ACNC is the first stage of a two-stage process. The first Bill proposes to repeal the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, while the substance of replacement arrangements will be dealt with in a later Bill. A further Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) will inform and accompany the second substantive Bill. Because the repeal of the ACNC does not take effect until the replacement arrangements have been determined, and been passed through the Parliament, there are no impacts or compliance costs arising directly from this announcement.
Australia’s financial services industry is a significant part of the Australian economy. It employs more than 400,000 people and is expected to continue growing, driven by Australia’s ageing population and increasing pool of superannuation funds. As part of its commitment to reducing the regulatory burden on business, the Government has announced changes to the regulation of the financial products and services sector. The key reforms include:
On 19 March 2014 the Prime Minister announced changes to the rules that relate to when a lease may need to be registered on the Personal Property Securities Register. The changes will simplify the requirements for leases of less than 12 months. Business will no longer need to consider two timeframes: one for goods generally and one for serial numbered goods, such as motor vehicles. The changes will also minimise the need for businesses to consider whether to register leases that are for a term of less than 12 months.