Published Impact Analyses

On 22 August, the Chairman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced new rules for telecommunication service providers regarding the backup power supply for National Broadband Network (NBN) voice services. Following the national rollout of the NBN, approximately twenty-six per cent of Australians will be connected to the NBN via fibre to the premises technology. During a power outage, households connected to the NBN via fibre to the premises technology will not have access to fixed-line telephone services without a backup battery supply. The inclusion of a backup battery in NBN service packages is at the discretion of individual telecommunication service providers.

On 6 August 2014, the Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) on the grocery code of conduct was released for consultation. The RIS prepared by the Treasury considers whether the activities of the major supermarket chains are harming Australian suppliers. There is considerable debate that difference in bargaining power between supermarkets and suppliers may be used to extract contractual arrangements that go beyond what would be realised in a competitive market. The preferred option at this stage is for supermarkets to engage in an ‘opt-in prescribed’ code of conduct that makes certain elements of their contractual undertakings with suppliers transparent, and regulates certain things that can be contracted.

On 25 July 2014, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) made a variation to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code relating to a Primary Production and Processing Standard for Meat and Meat Products. Meat producers are currently not directly regulated for traceability, input and waste management under the food regulatory system. Rather, they are indirectly regulated via requirements on meat processors to source products from producers who meet such requirements. This means that State and Territory food regulators are unable to investigate on-farm food safety issues without activating emergency powers under their respective Food Acts; in the event of a food safety incident, the additional time that this takes can allow an incident to worsen.

On 29 August 2014 a consultation paper was released for the Review of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Health Professions (the National Scheme) on behalf of the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC).

On 7 April 2014 Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the conclusion of negotiations on the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA). Prime Minister Abbott and Prime Minister Abe signed the agreement on 8 July 2014 in Canberra. Japan is Australia’s second-largest trading partner, with two-way trade in goods and services reaching nearly $70 billion in 2012-13. Australia and Japan also have significant direct investment relationships. However, there exist a number of tariffs and other barriers which constrain the ability of Australian producers and exporters to build trade, and which limit profitability and expansion opportunities for these businesses. These barriers are particularly significant for Australia’s agriculture sector.

On 27 July 2014, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) repealed the short sale tagging obligation. Short selling is the sale of financial products that the seller does not own at the time of the sale. Short sale tagging refers to an obligation for market participants to specify the quantity of a sell order that is short at the time the sale order is placed or at the time the trade is reported. This is also known as real-time tagging, as opposed to reporting with a lag, such as end of day reporting.   The obligation was introduced in July 2012 (see the original RIS) and was due to commence in July 2014.

On 1 August 2014 the Government released an exposure draft regulation and a draft explanatory statement which seek to amend the Superannuation Industry (Supervisory) Regulations 1994. The proposed ‘pass-through’ regulation would require any superannuation fund that receives data relating to a contribution being made to another fund to on-forward that data to the other fund – e.g. If Fund ABC received data about a contribution being made to Fund XYZ, then Fund ABC would be required to pass the data onto Fund XYZ. The proposal has been assessed by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) as likely to have a measurable but contained impact on the economy with minor impacts on competition. A RIS has been prepared by the Treasury for consultation. The Treasury is currently inviting interested parties to comment on the exposure draft and explanatory statement. The closing date for submissions is Monday, 1 September 2014.

On 17 July 2014, the Minister for Justice introduced the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Psychoactive Substances and Other Measures) Bill 2014, which proposes to ban the importation of all substances that have a psychoactive effect that are not otherwise regulated. The amendments criminalise the importation of new psychoactive substances and permit Australian Customs and Border Protection Service officers to seize unknown substances that are not existing illicit drugs or do not have a regulated legitimate use. The ban aims to address the importation of substances which mimic the psychoactive effects of, or are marketed as legal alternatives to, illicit drugs. The underlying concern is that these substances are frequently of unknown origin and are potentially harmful. There are examples where these drugs have proven equally as harmful as existing illicit drugs.

The Office of Best Practice Regulation has today published a range of guidance material associated with the Australian Government Guide to Regulation. The purpose of these guidance notes are to assist policy makers on particular aspects of preparing a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) or Post-implementation review. These documents will be updated from time to time as necessary to support the Guide to Regulation. The full list of guidance notes is:

On 15 May 2014 legislation was introduced into Parliament to reduce disclosure requirements and company Directors’ risk in relation to the issuance of simple retail corporate bonds. Previously, the Corporations Act required a corporation to prepare a full prospectus for the offer of corporate bonds to retail investors. Additionally, a Director had liability for any misstatement in, or omission from, the disclosure document irrespective of whether the Director was involved in the misstatement or omission. The RIS considers that the relatively onerous disclosure and liability requirements have resulted in an unnecessarily low number of simple retail corporate bonds being issued. Consequently, the RIS proposes to limit the disclosure obligations by introducing a 2-part prospectus for certain bond issuances.