Published Impact Analyses

On 29 August 2014 a consultation paper was released for the Review of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Health Professions (the National Scheme) on behalf of the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC).

On 7 April 2014 Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the conclusion of negotiations on the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA). Prime Minister Abbott and Prime Minister Abe signed the agreement on 8 July 2014 in Canberra. Japan is Australia’s second-largest trading partner, with two-way trade in goods and services reaching nearly $70 billion in 2012-13. Australia and Japan also have significant direct investment relationships. However, there exist a number of tariffs and other barriers which constrain the ability of Australian producers and exporters to build trade, and which limit profitability and expansion opportunities for these businesses. These barriers are particularly significant for Australia’s agriculture sector.

On 27 July 2014, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) repealed the short sale tagging obligation. Short selling is the sale of financial products that the seller does not own at the time of the sale. Short sale tagging refers to an obligation for market participants to specify the quantity of a sell order that is short at the time the sale order is placed or at the time the trade is reported. This is also known as real-time tagging, as opposed to reporting with a lag, such as end of day reporting.   The obligation was introduced in July 2012 (see the original RIS) and was due to commence in July 2014.

On 1 August 2014 the Government released an exposure draft regulation and a draft explanatory statement which seek to amend the Superannuation Industry (Supervisory) Regulations 1994. The proposed ‘pass-through’ regulation would require any superannuation fund that receives data relating to a contribution being made to another fund to on-forward that data to the other fund – e.g. If Fund ABC received data about a contribution being made to Fund XYZ, then Fund ABC would be required to pass the data onto Fund XYZ. The proposal has been assessed by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) as likely to have a measurable but contained impact on the economy with minor impacts on competition. A RIS has been prepared by the Treasury for consultation. The Treasury is currently inviting interested parties to comment on the exposure draft and explanatory statement. The closing date for submissions is Monday, 1 September 2014.

On 17 July 2014, the Minister for Justice introduced the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Psychoactive Substances and Other Measures) Bill 2014, which proposes to ban the importation of all substances that have a psychoactive effect that are not otherwise regulated. The amendments criminalise the importation of new psychoactive substances and permit Australian Customs and Border Protection Service officers to seize unknown substances that are not existing illicit drugs or do not have a regulated legitimate use. The ban aims to address the importation of substances which mimic the psychoactive effects of, or are marketed as legal alternatives to, illicit drugs. The underlying concern is that these substances are frequently of unknown origin and are potentially harmful. There are examples where these drugs have proven equally as harmful as existing illicit drugs.

The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has published a range of guidance material associated with the Australian Government Guide to Regulation. The way businesses compete against each other greatly affects the welfare of consumers. In the absence of competition, consumers are likely to be worse off. Competition can also be a driver of efficiency and innovation, both of which lead to enhanced productivity. For that reason, the Guide to Regulation and the COAG Best Practice Regulation Guide, require that the competition impacts of new regulatory proposals be examined in a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). Furthermore, both the Guide to Regulation and the COAG Guide require additional ‘competition tests’ for a RIS that recommends a regulatory proposal that the OBPR has assessed as restricting competition.

The Office of Best Practice Regulation has today published a range of guidance material associated with the Australian Government Guide to Regulation. The purpose of these guidance notes are to assist policy makers on particular aspects of preparing a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) or Post-implementation review. These documents will be updated from time to time as necessary to support the Guide to Regulation. The full list of guidance notes is:

On 15 May 2014 legislation was introduced into Parliament to reduce disclosure requirements and company Directors’ risk in relation to the issuance of simple retail corporate bonds. Previously, the Corporations Act required a corporation to prepare a full prospectus for the offer of corporate bonds to retail investors. Additionally, a Director had liability for any misstatement in, or omission from, the disclosure document irrespective of whether the Director was involved in the misstatement or omission. The RIS considers that the relatively onerous disclosure and liability requirements have resulted in an unnecessarily low number of simple retail corporate bonds being issued. Consequently, the RIS proposes to limit the disclosure obligations by introducing a 2-part prospectus for certain bond issuances.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have decided to remake two sunsetting legislative instruments without significant amendments: the Radiocommunications (Compliance Labelling - Electromagnetic Radiation) Notice 2003 and the Radiocommunications (Electromagnetic Radiation - Human Exposure) Standard 2003. In line with the Australian Government best practice regulation requirements for sunsetting legislative instruments, the ACMA has assessed the operation of these instruments in consultation with affected stakeholders and interest groups, and have certified that these instruments are operating efficiently and effectively.

The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) has published a range of guidance material associated with the Australian Government Guide to Regulation. This guidance note provides additional detail on the application of the whole-of-government consultation principles outlined in the Guide to Regulation, as well as the role of OBPR in encouraging best practice consultation processes.