On 18 December 2011, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Financial Services and Superannuation, Bill Shorten MP, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd MP, and the Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism, Martin Ferguson AM MP released a joint media release, announcing a permanent Seasonal Worker Program will begin on 1 July 2012. The initiative builds on the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme and enables Australian farmers in the horticulture sector to employ workers from the Pacific Region and East Timor. The initiative is to provide access to seasonal employment opportunities in Australia which will deliver financial gains and employment experience to workers from the Pacific Region and East Timor. It will also help horticulturalists to meet unmet demand for seasonal labour.
Published Impact Analyses
Official website for Published Impact Analyses for decisions announced by the Australian Government, Ministerial Forums and National Standard Setting Bodies.
While the Primary Industries Ministerial Council could not agree to introduce a national standard PIMC 21 Communique, all industries involved in the bobby calf supply chain (that is dairy farmers, livestock agents, calf buyers and transporters and calf processors) have agreed to implement a national industry standard that sets a limit of 30 hours TOF for calves aged 5 to 30 days being transported without mothers. This cooperation will lead to an action plan to address risk areas for calves and encourage the adoption of better practice in calf transport. Departments of Agriculture are considering a further review of bobby calf transport in 2014.
The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission has released its 2010-11 Annual Report. The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission has three core functions:
- Reviewing regulatory impact statements and advising on the economic impact of significant new legislation;
- Undertaking inquiries into matters referred to it by the Victorian Government; and
- Operating Victoria’s Competitive Neutrality Unit.
To improve the quality of regulatory impact assessment in Victoria three areas were identified as priorities for 2011-12. These were:
A Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) on the proposed introduction of a unique student identifier was released on 22 December 2011. In December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) asked that a business case be prepared for the introduction of a national unique student identifier for the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. The final business case is to be considered by COAG in early 2012. Currently the National Centre for Vocational Education Research collects and holds unit level records of student enrolment and achievement in the VET sector but these records are not mapped to an individual over the lifetime. Four options are examined in the RIS:
On 15 December 2011, the Department of Broadband, Communications and Media Authority announced regulatory amendments to facilitate the rollout of the National Broadband Network and other next-generation broadband networks. These changes will facilitate the rollout of broadband infrastructure by including infrastructure used in an optical fibre network in the Telecommunications (Low-impact Facilities) Determination 1997. As a result, these types of facilities will be installed on a nationally-uniform basis under Commonwealth law, rather than state and territory legislation. These changes will allow NBN Co Limited and other comparable carriers to readily deploy fibre in the street, connect premises and locate equipment in multi-unit buildings.
On 9 December 2011, the Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation (which has replaced the former Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council) announced that it had agreed to put in place a new food safety management Policy Guideline for the retail and food service sectors. The Policy Guideline is intended to guide Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) should it decide to make a new standard on food safety management in the retail and food service sector and also guide consistent implementation by the States and Territories.
On 12 December 2011, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) published guidance (Regulatory Guide 230) on the use of financial information prepared other than in accordance with accounting standards; that is, non-International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) financial information. The guidance aims to assist directors and preparers of financial information in understanding how and when it is appropriate to use non-IFRS financial information in financial reports, transaction documents and other documents. The guidance covers:
On 16 December 2011, the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy published instruments that alter the payphone arrangements in the Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation. The new arrangements increase the requirements for Telstra in relation to payphone fault repairs, installation, removal, public consultation on removal and complaints handling. Significantly the new arrangements are regulatory and enforceable, whereas the previous arrangements were not. These regulatory arrangements may be replaced by contractual arrangements in two years time, pending certain pre‑conditions being met. A Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and was assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
On 29 November 2011, the Product Stewardship (Televisions and Computers) Regulations 2011 were amended to include a ‘material recovery’ target. The target has been set at 90 per cent, and comes into effect in 2014–15. The target sets requirements for the minimum weight of materials that need to be recovered through the recycling process for further processing into useable materials. Together with the existing ‘recycling’ target, the material recovery target aims to maximise resource recovery and minimise waste to landfill. The Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. It was assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
The Government has agreed to an initiative to improve the resources available to agencies when they prepare regulation impact statements (RISs). Under this initiative, the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) can provide outposted officers (on a cost offsetting basis) to assist agencies in the preparation of RISs and post-implementation reviews (PIRs). This will formalise arrangements which have been operating from time to time. The initiative covers Australian Government and Council of Australian Government best practice regulation requirements which are both administered by the OBPR. More information on this initiative is included in this attachment.
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