Annual review of regulatory burdens on business: business and consumer services

Final report

• and others
• Productivity Commission

Read the full text

14 October 2010This final report dentifies ways to reduce the regulatory burdens on businesses in the finance and insurance, accommodation and food services, professional, scientific and technical services, and arts and recreational services sectors.

• Despite long established (and reviewed) consultation processes used in developing regulations, industry still finds these processes lacking in several respects. Finance and property industry groups consider the most significant regulatory failings are a lack of transparency and continuity in consultation processes, short consultation timeframes and a lack of credible evidence in the current regulation-making process.
• These failings of regulatory process are of particular concern given the significant and wide reaching regulatory reforms of the finance sector currently being developed internationally in response to the Global Financial Crisis. It is important that any domestic reform proposals are subject to transparent and rigorous processes that take into account all of the impacts on the finance sector and local conditions.
• To improve the transparency and accountability of its consultation processes the Australian Government should:
  • incorporate a 'consultation' Regulation Impact Statement in the regulation-making process
  • require the Office of Best Practice Regulation to extend its monitoring and reporting role to the quality of consultation
  • use confidential consultation processes only in limited circumstances where transparency would clearly compromise the public interest.
• A number of regulations and associated administrative processes affecting the superannuation industry should be revised to reduce the regulatory burdens on business, including:
  • allowing non-lapsing binding death nominations
  • giving departing temporary residents the ability to submit their applications to superannuation funds for payments before the time of their departure, rather than after they have left Australia
  • standardising the instructions to superannuation trustees made on the dissolution of marriage
  • requiring superannuation fund members to make a specific request to receive transaction confirmation letters.
• There is duplication, overlap and inconsistency in the regulation of certain occupations. Regulatory burdens should be reduced by:
  • implementing a national register for architects so that payment of a single registration fee in any jurisdiction would automatically enable an architect to practice in all Australian jurisdictions
  • ending the 'dual regulation' of lawyers that practice in the area of migration law, by exempting those with a current legal practising certificate from the regulatory requirements of the Migration Agents Registration Scheme
  • harmonising personal and corporate insolvency laws - a reform taskforce should be established to identify provisions and processes that could be aligned and the case for a single regulator should also be examined
  • developing uniform real property laws for adoption in all Australian jurisdictions - this could be overseen by COAG's Business Regulation and  Competition Working Group.
• Unnecessary regulatory burdens in the hospitality and tourism sector should be addressed by:
  • indexing the monetary threshold at which proposed foreign investment in developed non-residential commercial property, including hotels, is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) assessment - similar to the thresholds applying to other types of foreign investment
  • removing the lower monetary threshold relating to FIRB assessment of the purchase of heritage listed developed non-residential commercial properties by foreign interests
  • providing mutual recognition across state borders of responsible service of alcohol training
  • removing inconsistencies between the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conversation Act and the regulations relating to the importation of endangered species
  • exempting Sunday and public holiday menu surcharges from the amendments to the Trade Practices Act dealing with component pricing.
• The earnings threshold for the superannuation guarantee continues to be an issue for business, in particular small business. The monthly earnings threshold attached to the superannuation guarantee should be increased and subject to indexation.