Published Impact Analyses

A review of the Australian Government best practice regulation requirements was announced on 13 December 2011.  This review will enable an assessment of the effectiveness of new elements of the best practice regulation requirements introduced in 2010. The review will be conducted by Mr Robert Milliner and Mr David Borthwick AO PSM.  The review is due to report to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation by 20 April 2012. The Terms of Reference also provide for assessment of the extent to which the interpretation and administration by the Office of Best Practice Regulation of the Best Practice Regulation Handbook are consistent with the OECD’s Guiding Principles for Regulatory Quality and Performance.

• Terms of Reference RIS – RTF version [ 33KB]

On 10 July 2011, the Prime Minister announced that the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Program would be extended to energy transmission and distribution networks and major Greenfield and expansion projects. The Energy Efficiency Opportunities Act 2006 and the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Regulations 2006 currently require corporations that use over 0.5 PJ of energy in a financial year to undertake a detailed energy assessment, identify and evaluate opportunities to improve their energy performance and publicly report on the results. A Regulation Impact Statement was required to inform this decision but was not prepared. Consequently, the Office of Best Practice Regulation has assessed the proposal as being non-compliant with the Australian Government’s best practice regulation requirements.

On 16 November 2011, the Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare made the Child Care Benefit (Eligibility of Child Care Services for Approval and Continued Approval) Amendment Determination 2011 (No. 2) to introduce tougher tests for child care services seeking to be eligible to provide government-assisted places. The Determination expands the definition of key personnel so that a wider range of persons can be assessed for their suitability. It also introduces a tougher suitability test, which will include:

On 23 November 2011, the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs introduced a bill into Parliament tackling priority issues in the Northern Territory, including alcohol related measures. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) and a Post-implementation Review (PIR) were prepared for this bill and were assessed as adequate.  The combined RIS and PIR is published here, however, it excludes information that was contained in the document considered by the decision-maker and consequently the Office of Best Practice Regulation have assessed the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs as non-compliant with the best practice regulation requirements for this proposal at the transparency stage.

On 14 November 2011, the Assistant Treasurer announced that the Government will implement requirements for insurers to provide customers with a Key Facts Sheet for all home building and home contents insurance policies. The announcement was part of the Government’s response to the recommendations in the Natural Disaster Insurance Review report.

The Key Facts Sheet will set out, on a single page, all key information about the features of the policy. The Key Facts Sheet will be required in addition to existing disclosure documents, such as Product Disclosure Statements.

Further consultation on the format and content of the Key Facts Sheet will take place in early 2012. Prototypes of the Key Facts Sheet will also be subject to consumer testing prior to being finalised.

On 14 November 2011, the Assistant Treasurer announced that the Government will introduce a standard definition of ‘flood’ for certain insurance policies. The announcement was part of the Government’s response to the recommendations in the Natural Disaster Insurance Review report. The standard definition will apply when an insurer offers flood cover for a home building, home contents, small business or strata title insurance policy. Draft regulations on the standard definition will be released for consultation by the end of 2011.

The Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations introduced legislation on 24 November to make it easier for outworkers to receive minimum entitlements and to ensure compliance with the relevant provisions at all levels of the supply chain. The legislation provides a nationally consistent approach to workplace protection for textile, clothing and footwear industry outworkers by:

On 24 November 2011, the Government introduced amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 to amend local content and local presence requirements for regional commercial radio. Local content and local presence requirements were introduced to ensure commercial radio services in regional areas provide local content and maintain a local presence if ownership changed. Amendments will reduce but not remove the regulatory burden of these requirements for most regional commercial radio stations by granting affected stations increased flexibility to meet the requirements. Additionally, remote broadcasters and regional commercial radio broadcasters primarily providing racing services will be exempted from local presence and local content requirements. A Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy and was assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

On 15 November 2011, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Minister Assisting on Deregulation announced details of reforms to the regulation of agricultural and veterinary chemicals.  These reforms will better align the assessment effort with the risks posed and impose time limits for the regulator to complete assessments. The reforms also introduce a scheme for the continuation of approvals and registrations, otherwise known as the re-registration process, and a graduated compliance regime.

On 23 September 2011, the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations announced a decision to introduce a new Tuition Protection Service and other related measures. The Tuition Protection Service is a single mechanism to place students when an education provider closes, or as a last resort, to provide refunds of unexpended course fees. A number of complementary initiatives are also being introduced including limiting the amount of pre-paid course fees that may be collected by providers; requiring some providers to keep initial pre-paid fees in a separate account until a student commences study; strengthening record keeping obligations; and establishing a national registration system which will allow the registration of providers who operate across jurisdictions.