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