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Regulation and its review 1998-99

Annual report series

Regulation and its Review 1998-99 was released on 30 November 1999. The report forms part of the Commission's annual report series and meets its obligation to report annually on compliance with the Commonwealth's requirements for the making and review of regulations.

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  • Media release
  • Contents

There has been an overall improvement in compliance with best practice regulatory requirements by Government departments and agencies, according to a Productivity Commission report released today. But the Commission found further room for improvement in providing Regulation Impact Statements for early consideration of primary legislation by decision makers.

The report — Regulation and its Review 1998-99 — forms part of the Commission's annual report series of publications and meets its obligation to report annually on compliance with the Commonwealth's requirements for the making and review of regulations. The aim of Regulation Impact Statements is to ensure regulatory action is well informed and achieves intended goals, while minimising any burden on business and the community. The Commission's Office of Regulation Review provides training and advice to all departments and agencies on the best practice requirements, and monitors compliance.

This year's report contains for the first time information on the compliance rates for individual agencies, as well as in aggregate.

Chairman of the Productivity Commission, Gary Banks, said "implementing the Government's best practice regulatory requirements has been a learning process for all concerned. While there is still some way to go, the better overall compliance is a positive sign and reflects greater familiarity with the process and improved expertise within agencies".

In addition, Regulation and its Review reports on two Council of Australian Government programs which also aim to achieve better regulatory outcomes. These are: national competition policy reviews of existing Commonwealth legislation which restricts competition; and proposals being considered by Ministerial Councils and national standard-setting bodies.

Background information

02 6240 3330

  • Preliminaries
    Cover, Copyright, Foreword, Contents and Abbreviations
  • Overview
  • Chapter 1 Best practice processes for regulation
    1.1 Commonwealth RIS requirements for new or amended regulation
    1.2 Review and reform of existing legislation
    1.3 Commonwealth regulatory performance monitoring and accountability initiatives
    1.4 COAG principles and guidelines
    1.5 Role of the ORR
  • Chapter 2 Compliance with RIS requirements
    2.1 Introduction
    2.2 Primary legislation
    2.3 Delegated legislation
    2.4 Quasi-regulation
    2.5 Treaties
    2.6 National regulation making
  • Chapter 3 Improving compliance
    3.1 Awareness of requirements
    3.2 Compliance at the decision-making stage
    3.3 Better integration of the RIS
    3.4 Consequences of non-compliance
    3.5 Gatekeeper procedures
    3.6 Quality of analysis
    3.7 Tracking regulatory activity
  • Chapter 4 Commonwealth legislation reviews
    4.1 Status of reviews
    4.2 Clearance of terms of reference
    4.3 Composition of review bodies
  • Appendix A Role and activities of the ORR
  • Appendix B Compliance by portfolio
  • Appendix C Commonwealth Legislation Review Schedule - status of reviews as at 30 June 1999
  • Appendix D Regulatory reform in the States and Territories
  • Appendix E OECD reviews
  • References

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