Published Impact Analyses

Prime Minister's Exemption - Attorney-General's Department

On 3 April 2019, the Government introduced the Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Bill 2019 into Parliament.

The Bill will introduce new offences in the Criminal Code to ensure that internet, hosting or content services proactively refer abhorrent violent material to law enforcement, and that hosting and content services expeditiously remove from their platforms abhorrent violent material that is capable of being accessed within Australia.

The Prime Minister granted an exemption from the need to complete a Regulation Impact Statement because there were truly urgent and unforeseen events requiring a decision before an adequate regulatory impact assessment could be undertaken. Consistent with the Australian Government’s RIS requirements, a post-implementation review must be completed by the Attorney‑General’s Department within two years of implementation.

Regulation Impact Statement - Department of Agriculture and Water Resources

On 15 March 2019, the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources announced the Government will be proceeding with a dairy industry mandatory code of conduct (the code) to help shift the balance in bargaining power back towards dairy farmers. The code will create enforceable minimum standards of conduct for business practices between farmers and processors, and is aimed at improving pricing transparency in the industry. Nine principles will be used to establish the rules of the code, including to:

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of the Environment and Energy

On 4 April 2019, the Government made the Competition and Consumer (Industry Code- Electricity Retail) Regulations 2019 (the Code) under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The Code is a mandatory industry code and introduces a Default Market Offer (DMO) price cap and a reference bill on retail electricity prices. The Code will take effect from 1 July 2019 in price-deregulated regions (South Australia, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South East Queensland).

The DMO places a price cap on electricity retailers’ standing offers. Under this code, retailers will not be able to price their standing offers above the price cap. The objective of the DMO is to reduce incentive for retailers to take advantage of disengaged customers in the market.

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Communications and the Arts

On 22 June 2017 the Government introduced the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer) Bill 2017 to Parliament.

Amongst other measures, the Bill establishes an ongoing funding arrangement for fixed wireless and satellite infrastructure by imposing a monthly charge on carriers, including NBN Co Ltd, in relation to each premises connected to their network that has an active fixed-line superfast broadband service during the month. Budget funding was considered as an option, but rejected.

A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared and certified by the Department of Communications and the Arts and has been assessed as compliant and best practice by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR).

Independent Review – Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

On 7 November 2018, APRA released the final version of its prudential standard on information security management in the financial services industry. The standard was developed to increase APRA-regulated entities’ resilience against information security incidents (including cyber-attacks), and their ability to respond swiftly and effectively in the event of a breach.

Prudential Standard CPS 234 Information Security requires APRA-regulated entities to:

Independent Review – Department of Agriculture and Water Resources

As part of the 2018-19 Budget, the Government announced it will introduce a new levy on all containers and non-containerised cargo transported to Australia by sea from 1 July 2019, to enable the Government to invest in measures that will help it detect, identify and respond to exotic pests and diseases earlier.

This measure will apply a $10.02 levy per twenty foot container (or equivalent) and non‑containerised cargo will incur a levy of $1 per tonne. The levy will be payable on a quarterly basis and will be administered by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (the Department).

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Health  

On 11 March 2019, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs made the following instruments:

Independent Review – Department of Health

On 14 February 2019, the Government introduced the following legislation:

Extension of class order relief for Business Introduction or Matching Services without significant amendments – Australian Securities and Investments Commission

On 20 March 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) extended the relief provided by ASIC Corporations (Repeal and Transitional) Instrument 2017/186 (the Instrument), without significant amendment, for a period of 3 years until 1 April 2022.

The Instrument provides conditional exemptions from the fundraising and debenture requirements in the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) for persons involved in making or calling attention to offers of securities through a business introduction service. It intends to facilitate the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by reducing the regulatory burden of small-scale fundraising and assist SMEs to locate potential investors.

Remaking of Sunsetting Instrument without Significant Amendments – Australian Communications and Media Authority

On 13 December 2018, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) remade the above instrument without materially significant amendments. The new instrument commenced on 1 January 2019 and replaced the earlier instrument that was scheduled to sunset on 1 April 2019.

The objective of the standard is to ensure that the majority of advertisements on television are Australian-made, by means of a flexible regulatory system that recognises the market reality of advertising. The standard ensures commercial television licensees broadcast a majority of Australian-made commercials between 6am and midnight across the year. The changes the ACMA has made to the standard are of an administrative nature with no change to compliance requirements.