Published Impact Analyses

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.

Remaking of sunsetting instrument without significant amendments - Australian Securities and Investments Commission

On 12 March 2019, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) remade Class Order [CO 08/781] Warrants: Out of use notices in the ASIC Corporations (Warrants: Out-of-use notices) Instrument 2019/148 (ASIC Corporations Instrument 2019/148).

Remaking of sunsetting instrument without significant amendments – Department of the Treasury

On 6 December 2018 the Treasury remade the Financial Sector (Transfers of Business) Regulations 1999 (the 1999 Regulations), without significant amendment. The 1999 Regulations were scheduled to sunset on 1 April 2019, and are now remade as the Financial Sector (Transfer and Restructure) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations).

The Financial Sector (Transfer and Restructure) Act 1999 provides the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) with directions on how to treat certain transfers of business and shares of regulated or related bodies. The 2018 Regulations remake the 1999 Regulations without altering the meaning or operation of current provisions relating to (inter alia) continued right of review, and ownership restrictions.