Published Impact Analyses

On 28 November 2012, the Biosecurity Bill 2012 was introduced into the Senate. The Biosecurity Bill will replace the century-old Quarantine Act 1908 to provide the primary legislative means for the Australian Government to manage the risk of pests and diseases entering Australian territory and causing harm to animal, plant and human health, the environment and the economy. The Biosecurity Bill 2012 is a framework that creates a responsive and flexible operating environment for the Australian Government to make biosecurity risk management decisions, based on science and evidence. The Bill includes mechanisms to more clearly identify risks offshore, at the border and onshore.

On 4 December 2012, the Minister for Industry and Innovation announced changes to Australia’s anti‑dumping regime.  The key regulatory change is that the lesser duty rule need not apply under some circumstances when determining the size of the dumping duty to impose on an importer. This may result in shorter investigation times, but will also mean that higher dumping duties may be payable by importers.   The other major regulatory change is that importers who are under investigation for dumping will be required to declare whether or not a good they are importing has been dumped (subsidised). The effect of this will be that the importer will be required to investigate their supplier for evidence if the good has been subsidised, which potentially may reveal information of value to an investigation.

Council of Australian Governments Consultation Regulation Impact Statement

The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) is responsible for advising Australian Government agencies on whether Regulation Impact Statements (RIS) are required. To assist in improving the efficiency of this process the OBPR often grants carve-outs. In September 2012, the OBPR published a carve-out guidance note to increase the understanding of the process, in particular the criteria used by the OBPR to grant a carve-out and potential proposals which may be granted a carve-out. The OBPR also published a list of carve-outs that had been granted to help identify possible areas for agencies to request a carve-out and to make the initiative transparent for all stakeholders. The list has now been updated to reflect new carve-outs that have been granted since the list was published. If you have any questions about the revised list of carve-outs, please contact the OBPR.

Financial Market Infrastructures include systemically important payment systems, central securities depositories, securities settlement systems, central counterparties and trade repositories.  These entities are seen as having an increasingly important and expanding role in the financial system.  At the international level, risk management principles for these entities are developed jointly by the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Based on these principles, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) develops Financial Stability Standards for central counterparties (CCPs) and securities settlement facilities (SSFs) operating in Australia.  These standards have been in place since 2003 and broadly require that CCPs and SSFs conduct their affairs in a prudent manner, so as to contribute to the overall stability of the Australian financial system.

The current regulatory framework for debit card interchange fees and access arrangements has been in place since 2006, and covers both the EFTPOS and international debit card schemes. Since that time, there have been some developments in relation to the EFTPOS system, including:

Most goods imported into Australia that are valued at $1000 or less (low value parcels) are not currently subject to GST.  These arrangements are aimed at reducing compliance and administrative costs.  However, this ‘low value threshold’ also means that significant GST revenue is foregone; and that Australian suppliers of goods are placed at a competitive disadvantage. In 2011, the Productivity Commission found that there was in-principle justification for reducing the threshold on the basis of tax neutrality but significant cost reductions in parcel processing would need to be achieved if a reduction in the GST threshold was to be feasible.  The Low Value Parcel Processing Taskforce (the Taskforce) examined options to improve the efficiency of importation and handling procedures for low value parcels.

 On 19 November 2012, regulation was tabled in the Senate, which sets out requirements for insurers regarding the content, presentation and provision of a one-page Key Facts Sheet for home building and home contents insurance policies – the Insurance Contracts Amendment Regulation 2012 (No. 2). In the Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) the preferred option is likely to provide benefits for consumers in terms of improved access to key information and providing the most opportunities to compare similar insurance policies prior to entering into an insurance contract. As insurers are already required to provide a Key Facts Sheet for home building and home contents insurance policies under the Insurance Contracts Amendment Act 2012, costs are unlikely to be affected by imposing new requirements on the content and presentation of the Key Facts Sheet.

The Government has announced a package of reform measures to improve regulatory performance.  As part of the reform package the Government has agreed to; -        adopt a two-stage process for developing regulation impact statements (RISs); -        strengthen the role of annual regulatory plans (ARPs); and -        encourage better and more informed stakeholder consultation. The Office of Best Practice Regulation will be preparing revised guidance material to reflect the new arrangements. The current arrangements for Regulatory Impact Analysis are set out in the Government’s Best Practice Regulation Handbook and commenced operation on 1 July 2010. The Government committed to reviewing the framework within two years.

On 20 November 2012, the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation announced new market integrity rules. Broadly, the rules are in response to technological innovations such as automated and high-frequency trading; as well as the increasing significance of dark liquidity (that is, liquidity which is not publically disclosed). More specifically, the rules provide for: