Published Impact Analyses

Independent Review – Department of Health

On 15 September 2016, the Minister for Health announced Reforms to Regulation of Medicine and Medical Devices.

These reforms are based on recommendations from the Independent Review of Medicines and Medical Devices Regulation conducted by an expert panel.

The purpose of the Review was to identify areas of regulatory burden that could be removed or streamlined to encourage innovation and global competitiveness in the medicines and medical devices sector.

Of the Review’s 58 recommendations, 56 are supported by the Government, with the majority of these supported in-full. The resulting reforms are expected to reduce regulatory burden for the industry and expedite patient access to medicines, without compromising safety, quality or efficacy of medicines and medical devices.

Consultation Regulation Impact Statement – Standing Council on Federal Financial Relations

On 5 March 2015 the Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) for the National Injury Insurance Scheme (NIIS) on workplace accidents was released.
The NIIS is intended to complement the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) by providing lifetime care and support for individuals catastrophically injured in motor vehicle accidents, workplace accidents, medical treatment injury and general accidents (occurring in the home or community).

The proposed NIIS seeks to reduce duplication between the NIIS and NDIS and provide coverage to workers aged 65 and over at the time of their accident.

COAG Decision Regulation Impact Statement – National Transport Commission

On 9 May 2014, Transport Ministers agreed to new charging arrangements for heavy vehicles. The new arrangements will include the adoption of trailer axle group charging for articulated trailers, improved transparency around expenditure reporting by jurisdictions and the adoption of the latest and most robust research on each heavy vehicle class’s contribution to road wear. They are intended to ensure that registration charges are consistent for different types of articulated trailers that are commonly substituted to suit the type of load being carried, unlike current registration charges which vary significantly between otherwise similar trailer types.

Independent Review – Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

On 14 October 2016, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its draft decision to extend declaration of the wholesale ADSL service for five years. The declaration means that the ACCC can set the price and other conditions that apply to Telstra in the supply of the wholesale ADSL service to other retail internet providers.

The draft decision notes that Telstra has a dominant position in supplying fixed-line ADSL broadband services and that the declaration will be in the long term interests of broadband consumers.

Post Implementation Review – Department of Education and Training

On 1 January 2014, the Australian Education Regulation 2013 came into effect, as subordinate legislation to the Australian Education Act 2013. The Act and the Regulation provide for Commonwealth funding to government and non-government schools.

While the conditions and requirements for funding remained largely unchanged from the previous legislative framework, the introduction of the new legislation included the following new requirements:

• prepare implementation plans; and
• put in place processes and procedures for enhancing principal and teacher performance and professional development.

A Regulation Impact Statements (RIS) was required for the new measures in accordance with the Government’s regulation requirements at that time. However, a compliant RIS was not provided, triggering the requirement to undertake a post-implementation review (PIR).

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) remade Reporting Standards for Registered Financial Corporations (RFCs) under the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (FSCODA) without amendments, on 23 September and 27 September 2016.

The Reporting Standards under FSCODA allow APRA to collect data about business activities of the RFCs, which is primarily used by Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in performing their functions including producing publicly available reports.

Consistent with the Australian Government’s best practice regulation requirements for sunsetting instruments, APRA has assessed the operation of the Reporting Standards in consultation with affected stakeholders and has certified they are operating effectively and efficiently.

Regulation Impact Statement – Department of Education and Training

On 13 October 2016 the Government introduced the VET Student Loans Bill 2016 which proposes reforms to the Government’s Vocational Education and Training income contingent loan scheme. Proposed measures include:

Regulation Impact Statement – Australian Securities and Investments Commission

On 28 September 2016, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released new guidance outlining the remaking of Class Order [CO 02/184], which provides conditional relief from the fundraising, managed investment, debenture and licencing provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 to charities and schools that wish to raise funds to assist them meet their objectives.

The Class Order was originally introduced to assist charitable entities and schools to achieve their fundraising objectives. The new Class Order imposes restrictions on short-term and at-call investments to limit reported incidents where investors were engaged in an unexpected level of risk as a result of some charitable entities pursuing higher risk ventures.

Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) – Department of the Treasury

On 1 September 2016, the Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan) Bill 2016. The bill reduces corporate tax rates, increases the small business income tax offset for unincorporated small businesses, and increases the small business annual turnover threshold from $2 million to $10 million.

The RIS prepared by the Treasury was compliant, but not consistent with best practice under the Government’s RIS requirements because:

Independent Review – The Treasury

On 11 February 2016, the then Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer introduced a bill into Parliament that restricts the commissions that financial advisers receive when selling life insurance products.

The changes are intended to better align the interests of financial advisers and consumers.