Australian Government Requirements

This web page is relevant to policy officers developing regulatory proposals where the decision maker is the Australian Government’s Cabinet, the Prime Minister, minister, statutory authority, board or other regulator. However, if you are developing a regulatory proposal involving the Council of Australian Governments, a ministerial council, national standard-setting body or associated body, you should go to the web page for COAG requirements.

Overview

This web page, along with the linked pages, provides information about various aspects of the Australian Government’s best practice regulation requirements including:

Principles of Good Regulatory Process

The Australian Government has endorsed [] the following six principles of good regulatory process identified by the Taskforce on Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Business [].

Governments should not act to address 'problems' until a case for action has been clearly established. - This should include establishing the nature of the problem and why actions additional to existing measures are needed, recognising that not all 'problems' will justify (additional) government action.
A range of feasible policy options - including self-regulatory and co-regulatory approaches - need to be identified and their benefits and costs, including compliance costs, assessed within an appropriate framework.
Only the option that generates the greatest net benefit for the community, taking into account all the impacts, should be adopted.
Effective guidance should be provided to relevant regulators and regulated parties in order to ensure that the policy intent of the regulation is clear, as well as the expected compliance requirements.
Mechanisms are needed to ensure that regulation remains relevant and effective over time.
There needs to be effective consultation with regulated parties at all stages of the regulatory cycle.

Application

The objectives in implementing the principles of good regulatory process and consultation are to:

Achieve a robust system of regulatory oversight that encourages sound policy development and implementation by ensuring officials and ministers consider the potential costs and adverse implications, as well as benefits, of regulatory proposals.
Ensure the Government maintains appropriate control over decision-making processes and the capacity to implement policy quickly where necessary.
Ensure that ultimate responsibility for regulatory quality rests with individual ministers, departments and agencies, boards, statutory authorities and regulators.

The Government's best practice requirements for regulation apply to:

all proposals with regulatory and quasi-regulatory obligations being brought to Cabinet by ministers;
letters with regulatory and quasi-regulatory obligations being referred to the Prime Minister by ministers for approval;
proposals with regulatory or quasi-regulatory obligations of ministers, statutory authorities, boards and regulators; and
treaties.

The requirements apply to all government departments, agencies, statutory authorities and boards.
The Australian Government has adopted a three tiered system to assess all regulatory and quasi-regulatory proposals.

All regulatory proposals are required to undergo a preliminary assessment to establish whether they are likely to involve an impact on business and individuals or the economy, whether or not they are considered by the Cabinet.
If the preliminary assessment shows that a proposal potentially involves medium compliance costs, a full assessment of the compliance cost implications should be carried out using the Business Cost Calculator or approved equivalent.
Proposals that have a significant impact on business and individuals or the economy (whether in the form of compliance costs or other impacts) require more detailed analysis documented in a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). If the impacts include medium or significant compliance costs, the BCC report forms part of the RIS.

In order to obtain the maximum benefit from the regulatory impact assessment process, the Australian Government has decided that the RIS or BCC report must be prepared by officials once an administrative decision is made that regulation may be necessary, but before a policy decision is made by the Government or its delegated officials that regulation is necessary.

Regulatory Impact Analysis Guidance Material

For more information, refer to the Best Practice Regulation Handbook.

Summary of Regulatory Impact Analysis Process

Policy officers might find a summary of the Australian Government’s regulatory impact analysis process useful.

Consultation Requirements

Policy officers developing a regulatory proposal should also be familiar with the Australian Government’s consultation requirements which involve a consultation policy and mechanisms including green papers, exposure drafts and Annual Regulatory Plans.

Reviews of Regulation

One of the key elements of best practice regulation making is to review regulation once it has been in place for some time. The key processes where the OBPR has an oversight and reporting role are post-implementation reviews, five-yearly reviews and National Competition Policy legislation reviews.

Compliance Reporting

Each six months Australian Government departments and agencies are required to provide compliance information to the OBPR on the best practice regulation requirements.

Each year the OBPR reports on compliance with the Government’s requirements in the Best Practice Regulation Report, including Regulatory Performance Indicators.

Contact for information on this page: OBPR contacts page

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