Published impact analyses

Regulation Impact Statement - Department of Social Services

On 8 October 2020, the Government introduced the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Continuation of Cashless Welfare) Bill 2020, to transition the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) from a trial to an ongoing program in the four existing trial sites and transition around 25,000 people on Income Management (IM) in the Northern Territory and the Cape York region to the CDC.   

The Cashless Debit Card aims to reduce the overall social harm caused by welfare‑fuelled alcohol, gambling and drug misuse by reducing the amount of welfare payment available as cash in a community. It is also designed as a helpful budgeting tool to support participants in managing their financial affairs and ensure they have money available to meet essential needs.

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications

On 3 December 2020, the Government introduced changes to Part 20A of the Telecommunications Act 1997.

Independent Review – Department of the Treasury

On 2 October 2020, the Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer, the Hon Michael Sukkar MP, announced changes to the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct (the Code), which is a voluntary code prescribed under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

The changes to the Code included: changes to the dispute resolution process; providing more detail and guidance on acting in good faith; changes to negotiating price rises; removing the ability to make retrospective changes in grocery supply agreements; and clarifying and extending application of the Code to wholesalers.

COAG Consultation Regulation Impact Statement – Australian Energy Market Commission

On 3 November 2020, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) released the draft rule determination and draft rule titled National Electricity Amendment (Technical Standards for Distributed Energy Resources) Rule 2020.

The draft rule would create technical standards that embedded generating (EG) units connecting by way of a micro EG connection service must comply with. The standard would amend the existing arrangements for solar inverters used primarily in household and other small-scale generation settings.

Regulation Impact Statement – Australian Communications and Media Authority

On 2 December 2020, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced new rules that require telecommunications providers to detect, trace and block scam calls.

Scam activity on Australian telecommunications networks is increasingly sophisticated and hard to detect. According to Scamwatch, Australians lost over $634 million to scams in 2019, with phone calls remaining a preferred contact method of scammers.

Remaking of Sunsetting Instrument without significant amendments – Department of Health

On 31 March 2020, the Department of Health remade with minor amendments the Therapeutic Goods (Multi-Site Manufacturing Licences) Guidelines 2010, which were due to sunset on 1 April 2020. The newly made Therapeutic Goods (Guidelines for Multi-Site Licenses) Instrument 2020 will sunset on 1 April 2030.

The instrument provides for guidelines to set out the circumstances in which a licence, issued under Part 3-3 of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 to manufacture therapeutic goods to which that Part applies (for example manufacturers of medicines and biologicals), may cover two or more manufacturing sites.

Independent Review – The Treasury

On 27 November 2020, the Government published the final report of the Review of the Tax Practitioners Board and the Government response to the review.

On 5 March 2019, the Government announced the independent review into the effectiveness of the Tax Practitioners Board and the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 to ensure that tax agent services are provided to the public in accordance with appropriate professional and ethical standards.

COAG Consultation Regulation Impact Statement – Australian Energy Market Commission

On 26 November 2020, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) released the draft rule determination and draft rule titled National Electricity Amendment (Connection to Dedicated Connection Assets) Rule 2020. 

On 15 November 2020, Ministers from 15 countries signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a regional free trade agreement that complements Australia’s existing free trade agreements with Indo-Pacific countries.

The Partnership contains commitments covering trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, and new rules for electronic commerce, intellectual property, government procurement, competition, and small and medium sized enterprises.

A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared and certified by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and has been assessed as consistent with Best Practice by the OBPR.

The OBPR considers the RIS contains a degree of detail and depth of analysis that is commensurate with the likely impacts of the proposal.

Post–implementation Review – Department of the Treasury

On 28 April 2014, the then Treasurer, the Hon Joe Hockey MP, announced the signing of an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between Australia and the United States regarding the United States’ Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

FATCA aims to prevent US tax evasion by detecting income and assets held by US taxpayers in financial institutions outside the US. The Australian Government’s signing of the IGA required Australian financial institutions to report details of accounts held by their US customers to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from 1 July 2014.

The Department of the Treasury was required to prepare a Post-Implementation Review (PIR) under the Government’s Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) requirements because of the significant impacts of the proposal.