Published Impact Analyses

On 7 March 2014, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided in principle to vary the ‘Access Regimes’ for the Mastercard and Visa systems in Australia and to remove the prudential oversight framework. To issue a Mastercard or Visa card in Australia you need to be an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI). While a specialised ADI category was created in 2004-05 (specialist credit card institutions) with the intention of encouraging market participation, it is considered that the requirement to be an ADI is preventing market access and restricting competition. In particular:

On 8 April 2014, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb and his South Korean counterpart, the Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick, formally signed the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) in Seoul. The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) assessed the agreement as likely to have a measurable impact on substantial sectors within the economy. Over the past decade Korea’s economic importance to Australia has expanded significantly to become Australia’s third-largest export market, fourth-largest trading partner and a growing investment partner. Korea is a particularly significant market for Australia’s agricultural exports, including raw sugar, beef, grains, dairy, wine, seafood and horticulture. Korea is also a significant export destination for Australia’s resources.

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.

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.