On 4 March 2011, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry announced the release of the Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) on a national scheme for assessment, registration and control of use of agricultural and veterinary chemicals. The consultation RIS considers broad options for the single national framework, consistent with the policy principles that COAG approved in August 2010. Feedback from stakeholders is sought on options for reform in the areas of governance, assessment and registration, control of use and training and licensing. The Consultation RIS was prepared for the Primary Industries Ministerial Council and has been approved by the OBPR. The consultation period closes on 11 April 2011.
Published Impact Analyses
Official website for Published Impact Analyses for decisions announced by the Australian Government, Ministerial Forums and National Standard Setting Bodies.
On 23 February 2011 the Government introduced the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Rebate) Bill 2011 to implement its election commitment to provide families with the option to receive Child Care Rebate payments fortnightly from 1 July 2011. As an alternative to receiving the payment directly, families can opt to receive the payment via child care services as a fee reduction. Facilitating this was anticipated to impose a compliance cost on potentially all 14,000 child care services. The RIS prepared by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations concludes that due to the universal use of computerised systems and existing regulatory reporting requirements the impact should be small. The OBPR has approved the RIS.
The Government announced on 9 February 2011 it had introduced the Combating the Financing of People Smuggling and Other Measures Bill to Parliament. The Bill introduces amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 to strengthen the regulation of the remittance dealers sector. Remittance dealers provide international cash transfer services. Key changes include more stringent registration requirements for dealers and requiring remittance networks to undertake some compliance activities on behalf of their agents. A RIS was prepared by the Attorney-General’s Department and has been approved by the OBPR.
The protocol provides for a new investment partnership between Australia and New Zealand. Australia is increasing the threshold under which New Zealand investment will not require foreign investment screening from $231 million to just over $1 billion. This is the same threshold level applying to investors from the United States for access to the Australian investment market. Australian investors will receive a screening threshold to the New Zealand investment market of NZ$477 million, up from NZ$100 million. The new screening thresholds should reduce compliance costs for investors through a reduction in application preparation costs and fees. The RIS has been approved by the OBPR.
The Australian Building Codes Board has decided that they will proceed with amending the Building Code of Australia to include requirements for private bushfire shelters.
The RIS recommended that on balance developing mandatory guidelines for voluntary construction was the best option as it involves testing and accreditation of suppliers of private bushfire shelters that would best address the information mismatch. While mandatory guidelines may impact on behavioural decisions to ‘stay or go’, these risks can be mitigated to an extent through information built into the mandatory standard which emphasises that a private fire shelter is an avenue of last resort and should not be used as a replacement to more effective bushfire mitigation strategies.
The Decision RIS has been approved by the OBPR
A Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) for National Harmonisation of Work Health and Safety Regulations and Codes of Practice was released for public comment on 10 January 2011. The RIS assesses a package of national model work health and safety regulations and codes of conduct intended to replace existing state, territory and Commonwealth occupational health and safety regulations. For some businesses the proposed model regulations and codes of practice will introduce new obligations. The RIS contains the preliminary assessment that the proposed national harmonisation will deliver a small overall benefit to the community. This conclusion takes into account the costs for some businesses as a result of new requirements and the expected offsetting benefits for businesses operating in multiple jurisdictions, as well as benefits through improved safety outcomes.
On 13 December 2010, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority announced the registration of new aircraft maintenance regulations. The new regulations cover continuing airworthiness requirements (Part 42), approved maintenance organisations (Part 145), maintenance personnel licensing (Part 66) and maintenance training organisations (Part 147). Under the changes to engineer licensing requirements, the number of licence categories will be reduced from five to two and the current system of providing a schedule of experience and sitting a CASA licensing exam will be replaced with competency based training administered by CASA approved training organisations. Maintenance organisations servicing regular public transport aircraft will be required to implement a safety management system, which is an organised approach to managing safety.
On 27 January 2011, Australian Communication and Media Authority announced changes to geographic numbering rules. The changes aim to update the rules for recent changes in technology, most notably the consumer uptake of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. The RIS has been approved by the OBPR.
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203 kB]On 20 December 2010, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan, the Minister for Finance & Deregulation Senator Penny Wong and the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy, announced the Government’s response to the National Broadband Network Implementation Study. Regulation Impact Statements were required for parts of this proposal, but the Prime Minister granted an exemption on the basis of exceptional circumstances. A post implementation review will be required within 1 to 2 years of its implementation.
On the 11 January 2011 the Water Charge (Infrastructure) Rules 2010 were registered. The rules were introduced to promote greater transparency and consistency in the way fees and charges are levied across the Murray Darling Basin. The RIS has been approved by the OBPR.