Published impact analyses for decisions announced by the Australian Government, ministerial forums and national standard setting bodies.
On 19 October 2016, the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016 was introduced in Parliament. The Bill will require individuals to be notified when their private information has been breached. Organisations regulated under the Privacy Act, with turnover above $3 million, will be required to notify individuals of data breaches.
On 21 October 2016 the Law, Crime and Community Safety Council agreed to introduce new measures to improve the national consistency of controls on precursor chemicals and equipment.
Inconsistencies across Australian jurisdictions were found to present opportunities for the diversion of chemicals and equipment towards the production of illicit drugs. The lack of a central system to report the sale of chemicals and equipment and a lack of information sharing between law enforcement agencies were considered additional vulnerabilities in addressing the diversion of chemicals and equipment.
On 6 May 2016, the Attorney-General’s Department released a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) for consultation examining ways to address the diversion of chemicals and equipment towards the production of illicit drugs.
The Consultation RIS examined the introduction of a nationally harmonised list of chemicals and equipment, the creation of an electronic information system to be shared by all jurisdictions and a programme of improved information sharing between border agencies and law enforcement agencies as possible ways to reduce the diversion of chemicals and equipment towards the production of illicit drugs.
The consultation period closed on 17 June 2016.
On 30 November 2012, the then Minister for Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy announced a series of reforms in relation to policy and regulatory arrangements in the media and communications sectors, as part of the Convergence Review. This included the introduction of revised Australian content requirements for commercial television broadcasters from 2013.
An exemption from the best practice regulation requirements was granted in 2012 by the then Prime Minister on the basis of exceptional circumstances. The proposal was implemented in 2013.
A post-implementation review was completed by the Department of Communications and the Arts in June 2016 and was assessed as compliant by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
On 14 December 2015 the Agriculture Minister’s Forum endorsed the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for sheep.
The standards and guidelines are intended to provide furthher clarity around the treatment and welfare of sheep particularly in relation to practices including castration, mulesing, and tail docking. The RIS outlines national standards which will be adopted by each relevant state and territory in order to improve the sheep welfare practices.
The Decision Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by Animal Health Australia (AHA) and is available here.
On 14 December 2015 the Agriculture Minister’s Forum endorsed the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for cattle.
The standards and guidelines are intended to provide further clarity around the treatment and welfare of cattle particularly in painful husbandry practices including castration, spaying, dehorning and tail docking. The RIS outlines national standards which will be adopted by each relevant state and territory in order to improve the cattle welfare practices.
The Decision Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by Animal Health Australia (AHA) and is available here.
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.
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.
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.