Impact of competition policy reforms on rural and regional Australia

• Preliminaries
  • Cover, Copyright, Terms of reference, Contents, Disclosure of interests, Acknowledgments, Abbreviations and explanations, Key Messages, Overview, Findings
• 1   Introduction
  • 1.1   Background to the inquiry
  • 1.2   Defining rural and regional Australia
  • 1.3   What is National Competition Policy?
  • 1.4   Themes from country Australia
  • 1.5   Structure of the report

PART A   DEVELOPMENTS IN COUNTRY AUSTRALIA

• 2   Demographic changes and social indicators
  • 2.1   Introduction
  • 2.2   Demographic changes
  • 2.3   Labour market and household income‘Coastal drift’
  • 2.4   Social indicators: country and city
• 3   Economic change in country Australia
  • 3.1   Introduction
  • 3.2   The changing nature of Australia's economy
  • 3.3   Drivers of change

PART B   THE NATIONAL COMPETITION POLICY REFORMS

• 4   The National Competition Policy Agreements
  • 4.1   Introduction
  • 4.2   Competition Principles Agreement
  • 4.3   Conduct Code Agreement
  • 4.4   Agreement to Implement the National Competition Policy and Related Reforms
• 5   National Competition Policy-related infrastructure reforms
  • 5.1   Introduction
  • 5.2   Electricity
  • 5.3   Gas
  • 5.4   Water
  • 5.5   Road transport
  • 5.6   Conclusion
• 6   Reform of public monopolies
  • 6.1   Introduction
  • 6.2   Progress with the reform of government monopolies
• 7   National Competition Policy and the marketing of rural products
  • 7.1   Introduction
  • 7.2   Application of the Trade Practices Act
  • 7.3   Review of SMA legislation
  • 7.4   The impacts of SMA reform under NCP
  • 7.5 Managing reform at the regional level
• 8   Impact of competitive neutrality and contracting on local government
  • 8.1   Introduction
  • 8.2   What is competitive neutrality?
  • 8.3   Commonwealth, State and Territory government approaches to competitive neutrality
  • 8.4 What is competitive tendering and contracting? Participants’ views
  • 8.5   Participants' views on competitive neutrality
  • 8.6   Competitive tendering and contracting issues
  • 8.7   Impact of competitive neutrality on local government
• 9   Other reforms
  • 9.1   Introduction
  • 9.2   NCP-related reforms
  • 9.3   Other issues
• 10   Summary of impacts of National Competition Policy reforms
  • 10.1   Introduction
  • 10.2   Effects to date
  • 10.3   Longer-term regional impacts of NCP reforms
  • 10.4   Long-run NCP impacts in the context of broad economic forces

PART C   IMPROVING NCP AND ACHIEVING BETTER OUTCOMES FOR COUNTRY AUSTRALIA

• 11   Improving the operation of National Competition policy
  • 11.1   Introduction
  • 11.2   Why is improved understanding of NCP important?
  • 11.3   What NCP does not require
  • 11.4   NCP and State and Territory governments
  • 11.5   Measures to improve understanding of NCP
  • 11.6   Operation of the 'public interest' provisions of NCP
  • 11.7   Modifying NCP
  • 11.8   The role of the National Competition Council
• 12   Achieving better outcomes for country Australia
  • 12.1   Introduction
  • 12.2   The nature of markets in country Australia
  • 12.3   Community and universal service obligations
  • 12.4   Provision of services to country Australia
  • 12.5   Regional development
• 13   Coping with change
  • 13.1   Introduction
  • 13.2   Change and adjustment
  • 13.3   Rationales for further adjustment assistance
  • 13.4   Possible forms of specific adjustment assistance
  • 13.5   Managing reform implementation
  • 13.6   Concluding comments

Appendices

• A   Conduct of the inquiry
  • A.1   Introduction
  • A.2   List of submissions
  • A.3   Participants at public hearings
  • A.4   Locations at which meetings were held
  • A.5   Consultations and regional discussions
• B   Technical notes for decomposition analysis of population growth
  • B.1   Data
  • B.2   Results
• C   Legislation reviews and the marketing of rural products
  • C.1   Commonwealth
  • C.2   New South Wales
  • C.3   Victoria
  • C.4   Queensland
  • C.5   Western Australia
  • C.6   South Australia
  • C.7 Tasmania
  • C.8   Australian Capital Territory
  • C.9   Northern Territory

References