Published Impact Analyses

On 17 October 2012, legislation was introduced in the NSW Parliament to enact the national law relating to electronic conveyancing.  The national law for electronic conveyancing establishes a nationally consistent scheme to enable the transfer of property and other related transactions to occur electronically. While participation in the electronic conveyancing scheme is voluntary a high percentage of businesses are likely to take up the scheme. Under the COAG requirements a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) is prepared for the consultation stage, and for the decision stage.  A consultation RIS was prepared and assessed as adequate.

On 11 February 2013, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport announced that the Australian Government is introducing a suite of new aviation licensing regulations for flight crew licensing, flight training and flight checking.  The new regulations improve Australia’s alignment with the International Civil Aviation Organization standards and recommended practices such as: strengthening licensing and training requirements for personnel flying passenger services; improving standards for training organisations and better aligning training with modern vocational education requirements; and addressing Australian Transport Safety Bureau requirements regarding low-level flying and night time visual flying.  The improved international recognition of Australia’s flight crew licences will also assist in attracting international students to study in Australia.

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations announced amendments to the Fair Work Act through four media releases on 11,12,13 and 14 February 2013. The proposed changes are intended to help families to balance work and family life and help employees to address workplace bullying. The measures will have the effect of:

On 17 February 2013, the Minister for Industry and Innovation released the Australian Government’s Industry and Innovation Statement. This statement included several measures intended to support Australian suppliers increase their participation in large construction projects, such as mines. The measures that have regulatory impacts on business include the requirements that:

Post-implementation Review – Treasury

Australia’s foreign investment laws generally require foreign persons to notify the Government in advance of acquiring interests in Australian land, including residential real estate.  In 2008, amendments were made to the foreign investment review regime which exempted temporary residents from notifying certain acquisitions of residential real estate.  In broad terms, acquisitions by temporary residents did not require notification provided they were acquiring land on which to build a single dwelling, purchasing a new house, or an established house in which to live.

On 9 February 2013, the Prime Minister announced that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be provided with new powers to investigate and undertake regulatory actions, if deemed necessary, in the Trans‑Tasman mobile roaming market. The New Zealand competition and consumer regulator will also be given similar powers by the New Zealand Government. This will enable the Australian and New Zealand regulators to take reciprocal regulatory action, if required, as unilateral measures by each country are considered to be ineffective in benefiting consumers.   The Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) notes that consumers and business travellers moving between Australia and New Zealand once faced very significant charges for mobile roaming voice, SMS and data services.

On 30 January 2013, the Australian Building Codes Board (the Board) announced the decision to introduce new National Construction Code (NCC) provisions to apply in flood hazard areas as designated by state, territory or local governments. The new requirements are designed to ensure the structural integrity of, and survival of utilities in, new residential buildings in designated flood hazard areas in all states and territories of Australia. The new requirements apply to the design and construction of certain class buildings. The decisions made by the Board include requiring:

On Friday 25 January 2013, the Minister for Resources and Energy announced that the Australian Government will introduce a national mandatory reporting regime for petroleum statistics–replacing the existing voluntary scheme. The mandatory reporting scheme is designed to improve the quality and coverage of data on production, sale, stocking and trade of petroleum across the Australian supply chain. This will assist the Australian Government to: maintain and improve an understanding of Australia’s liquid fuels market; to inform evidence-based policy around Australia’s liquid fuels supply chain; and enhance Australia’s ability to comply with international reporting obligations. These changes follow recommendations to improve the reporting regime in the International Energy Agency’s 2012 Review of Australia and the Energy White Paper 2012.

On 7 December 2012 the Assistant Treasurer announced the release of a consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) seeking stakeholder comments on proposals for new national rules on fuel price boards. The consultation RIS notes that concerns have been raised by some motorists, Australian Consumer Law Ministers, and regulators about the display of information on fuel price boards. For example, some motorists have reported being confused about the prominence given to discounted fuel prices. These motorists have assumed that the discounted fuel is available to them unconditionally (that is, without submitting a supermarket docket or other discount vouchers). The RIS examines whether motorists suffer consumer detriment in these circumstances.