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Completed inquiries

The following is a list of all completed Public inquiries and commissioned studies undertaken by the Commission.

Chemicals and plastics regulation

07 / 08 / 2008

The Chemical and Plastics Regulation commissioned study examines Australia's system of regulating chemicals and plastics.

Economy-wide effects of assistance to the textile, clothing and footwear industries

08 / 07 / 2008

The Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake modelling of the economy-wide effects of future assistance options for Australia's textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) industries in order to inform the current Review of the TCF industries as well as public debate and the Government's deliberations.

Modelling economy-wide effects of future automotive assistance

05 / 06 / 2008

The Australian Government asked the Commission to model the economy-wide effects of future assistance options for Australia's Automotive industry in order to inform the Bracks Review of the Australian Automotive Industry and public debate on the issue.

Consumer policy framework

08 / 05 / 2008

A public inquiry into Australia's consumer policy framework and its administration.

Assessing local government revenue raising capacity

17 / 04 / 2008

This study examined the capacity of different types of councils to raise revenue, the impact of the various revenue sources available to local government, and the impact of any State regulatory limits on local government's revenue raising capacity.

Safeguards inquiry into the import of pigmeat (2008)

04 / 04 / 2008

A public inquiry to assess whether action could and should be taken under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to give local producers a breathing space to adjust to import competition.

Tasmanian freight subsidy arrangements (2007)

24 / 05 / 2007

A public inquiry to review the economic costs of freight infrastructure and efficient approaches to transport pricing.

Annual review of regulatory burdens on business

09 / 05 / 2007

The Commission has been asked to do a series of studies into the burdens on business arising from the stock of Government regulation. The following areas will be reviewed: primary sector in 2007, manufacturing sector and distributive trades in 2008, social and economic infrastructure services in 2009, business and consumer services in 2010 and economy-wide generic regulation and regulation missed in earlier reviews in 2111.

Price regulation of airport services (2007)

27 / 04 / 2007

A public inquiry to examine the effectiveness of the current regulatory regime for the pricing of airport services.

Road and rail freight infrastructure pricing

13 / 04 / 2007

A public inquiry to review the economic costs of freight infrastructure and efficient approaches to transport pricing.

Science and innovation

27 / 03 / 2007

A commissioned study into the economic, social and environmental returns on public support for science and innovation in Australia.

Waste generation and resource efficiency

19 / 12 / 2006

A public inquiry to identify policies that will address market failures associated with the generation and disposal of waste, including opportunities throughout the product life cycle.

Standards and accreditation

16 / 11 / 2006

A commissioned study into the Australian Government's relationship with Standards Australia Limited and the National Association of Testing Authorities.

Rural water use and the environment: The role of market mechanisms

25 / 08 / 2006

A commissioned study into the feasibility of establishing market mechanisms for the efficient use of rural water and for dealing with rural water management related environmental externalities.

Performance benchmarking of Australian business regulation

11 / 08 / 2006

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) asked the Commission to assist in the development of performance indicators and reporting frameworks across all levels of government to implement its in-principle decision to adopt a common framework for benchmarking, measuring and reporting on the regulatory burden on business.

Performance benchmarking of Australian business regulation: Feasibility

11 / 08 / 2006

The Commission was requested by the Australian Government to develop a range of feasible quantitative and qualitative indicators and reporting framework options for an ongoing assessment and comparison of the burden of regulation on business.

Conservation of historic heritage places

21 / 07 / 2006

A public inquiry into policy framework and incentives for the conservation of Australia's historic built heritage places.

Economic impacts of migration and population growth

17 / 05 / 2006

A commissioned study into the productivity and economic impacts of migration and population growth

Consumer product safety

07 / 02 / 2006

A commissioned study to assess the social and economic impact of options for reforming Australia's general product safety system.

Health workforce

19 / 01 / 2006

The Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to examine issues impacting on the health workforce including the supply of, and demand for, health workforce professionals and propose solutions to ensure the continued delivery of quality healthcare over the next 10 years.