Regulation and its review 2003-04
Annual report series
Regulation and its Review 2003-04 was released on 16 November 2004 and meets the Commission's obligation to report annually on compliance by Australian Government departments and agencies with the Government's Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) requirements.
This edition provides RIS compliance information in aggregate and for individual Australian Government departments and agencies, as well as for individual Ministerial Councils and national standard-setting bodies. The assessed adequacy of RISs for all Bills, disallowable instruments and treaties tabled in Parliament during the year is noted for the first time.
This year's report also discusses the importance of effective consultation in generating high quality regulation and maintaining public confidence, and provides information on developments in regulatory policy in Australia and internationally.
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Individual chapters (ZIP 927.3 KB)A key element of the Australian Government's objective to improve regulations is the requirement to prepare Regulation Impact Statements (RISs) for proposed new and amended regulation which affects business.
The Australian Government's RIS processes broadly conform with OECD best practice principles.
In 2003-04, the Office of Regulation Review advised that RISs were required for 114 regulatory proposals. This represented about 7 per cent of the 1700 regulations which were made.
Overall, the compliance of departments and agencies in 2003 04 with the RIS requirements at the decision-making stage of regulatory policy development was higher than in previous years:
- Adequate RISs were prepared for 92 per cent of the 114 regulatory proposals (compared to 81 per cent in 2002 03 and 88 per cent in 2001 02).
- The compliance rate for the 18 regulatory proposals assessed as having a more significant impact on business and the community was significantly higher at 94 per cent (compared to 46 per cent in 2002 03 and 70 per cent in 2001 02).
In 2003-04, 24 departments and agencies were required to prepare RISs. Of these, 18 were fully compliant (compared to 12 of 23 in 2002 03).
In 2003 04, compliance by Ministerial Councils and national standard-setting bodies with the Council of Australian Governments' RIS requirements at the decision making stage was 88 per cent, similar to that in 2002 03.
In recognition of the value of effective consultation processes to good regulatory outcomes, many governments in Australia and internationally are taking steps to improve their approach to community consultation.
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