Australia: towards a seamless national economy

• OECD Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development

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16 February 2010Strong regulatory frameworks and sound policies have helped Australia weather the global crisis better than most OECD countries, according to this report, but further efforts are needed to harmonise regulations, strengthen competition and streamline infrastructure regulation.

The report says that lifting regulatory constraints and removing bottlenecks in some infrastructure sectors would enable Australia to take full advantage of the rapid rebound of some Asian economies, notably China. It argues for the need to maintain the current commitment to regulatory reform. Recent initiatives include Commonwealth fiscal reforms that give greater autonomy to states, a sharper focus on states' performance and financial incentives to the states to undertake reforms over a five year period.

Selected chapters from the report are availbale free online.