Published Impact Analyses

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of the Treasury

On 24 June 2021, the Governor-General of Australia made new regulations empowering the Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission (ACNC) to investigate registered charities engaging in or actively promoting serious unlawful activities.

Duties for Australian Charities, and indirectly for responsible persons, are set out in the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Regulation 2013 (the ACNC Regulations). These governance standards require a registered charity to remain charitable, operate lawfully, and be run in an accountable and responsible way.

Announcement date:

24 June 2021

Announcement:

https://www.aemc.gov.au/rule-changes/generator-registrations-and-connections

Problem being addressed:

The Australian Energy Council’s (AEC) rule change request sought to increase the participation of smaller generators in central dispatch to enable improved management of the power system and the efficient operation of the market, and to increase transparency in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) process for granting exemptions from being registered as a scheduled or non-scheduled generator.

On 8 June 2021, the Australian Information Commissioner made the Data-Matching Program (Assistance and Tax) Rules 2021 (Rules) under the Data-Matching Program (Assistance and Tax) Act 1990. The Rules replaced the Data-matching Program (Assistance and Tax) Act 1990 – Guidelines 1994 (Guidelines), which were due to sunset on 1 October 2021, with only minor amendments. The new Rules will now sunset on 1 October 2031.

Consistent with Government’s Regulation Impact Statement requirements for sunsetting instruments, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, after consultation with stakeholders, assessed the Guidelines as operating effectively and efficiently. Therefore, a Regulation Impact Statement was not required for making the Rules.

Problem being addressed:

The Australian Energy Council’s (AEC) rule change request sought to increase the participation of smaller generators in central dispatch to enable improved management of the power system and the efficient operation of the market, and to increase transparency in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) process for granting exemptions from being registered as a scheduled or non-scheduled generator.

On 26 May 2021, the Australian Government introduced the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Titles Administration and Other Measures) Bill 2021 and the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Amendment Bill 2021 into Parliament.

As Australia’s oil and gas industry matures, there are an increasing number of projects and assets reaching end of life in the next 30 years, with an estimated decommissioning liability of A$60 billion. The regulatory framework and the posture of the regulator, will need adapt to meet the changing needs of the offshore industry, which is beginning to focus on mid-to-end of life activities, while also remaining attractive to encourage new investment in the regime.

A RIS, considering three options, was prepared to support the Australian Government in approaching this problem. The options considered were:

On 11 May, the Government announced a suite of Financial Market Infrastructure Regulatory Reforms.

Consistent with the Government’s Regulatory Impact Analysis requirements, a number of independent reviews have been certified by the Treasury as meeting the requirements of a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) does not assess the quality of independent reviews and RIS-like documents used in lieu of a RIS, but does assess whether the options analysed in the reviews are relevant to the regulatory proposal. The OBPR assessed that the options analysed in the materials certified by the Treasury are sufficiently relevant to the regulatory proposal.

The Treasury estimates the average annual regulatory cost at $0.3 million.

Please note: any accessibility queries should be directed to the Treasury.

On 2 June 2021, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced the implementation of reforms to spectrum pricing. The reforms include reducing tax rates for services above 5GHz, introducing a ‘systems price’ for co-located earth stations authorised under the same licence and introducing an additional price discount for ‘micro’ land-mobile services.

Consistent with the Government’s Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) requirements, the Spectrum Pricing Review has been certified by the ACMA as meeting the requirements of a RIS.

On 3 June 2021, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) published a final determination and rule titled National Electricity Amendment (Implementing a general power system risk review) Rule 2021.

The rule establishes an annual general power system risk review (GPSRR) in which the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) would identify and assess, in collaboration with Network Service Providers (NSPs), priority risks to power system security that it expects would be likely to lead to cascading outages or major supply disruptions. The rule requires AEMO to complete the first GPSRR by 31 July 2023.

The AEMC believes this would increase the transparency of emerging system security risks that may need to be managed, helping AEMO, NSPs and market participants better understand the nature of the new risks as they emerge.

On 21 April 2021, the Government announced a commitment to modernising laws within the Treasury portfolio so they are technology neutral.

The first phase of legislative reform will focus on the key areas raised by stakeholders which are implementation-ready. These include:

On 20 May 2021, the Australian Ministers responsible for work health and safety (WHS) considered the recommendations from the 2018 Review of the model WHS laws (the Review) and agreement was reached for action on all 34 recommendations of the Review.

Areas addressed by the Review included the legislative framework; duties of care; consultation representation and participation; compliance and enforcement; prosecutions and legal proceedings; and the Model WHS Regulations.