The proposed update seeks to improve the safety and quality of HCT products supplied in Australia. The update intends to align manufacturing requirements with industry practice and international regulation. The update will also remove technical requirements from the Code which will be transferred to a new Therapeutic Goods Order: Standards for minimising infectious disease transmission via therapeutic goods that are human blood and blood components, human tissues and human cellular therapy products. This instrument will clarify the requirements for minimisation of infectious disease transmission through the selection and testing of donors of HCT products, and will align regulation of HCTs with the regulation of other therapeutic goods in Australia and internationally.

The costs and benefits of the revision are difficult to quantify. The majority of manufacturers affected by this update must already comply with the existing Code, and as the revised Code is principles-based it allows flexibility in practice so the costs are expected to be limited. The introduction of internationally harmonised infectious disease minimisation criteria results in a small reduction in eligible donors and a minor increase in resource costs for some facilities.

The revised Code and Therapeutic Goods Order will be effective from 31 May 2013, and allow a 12 month transition period.

A Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Department of Health and Ageing and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• HCT Code of Practice – Regulation Impact Statement [ 387 KB]
• HCT Code of Practice – Regulation Impact Statement [ 794 KB]

Community housing is housing assistance delivered by community organisations to people on low to moderate incomes with a housing need. Public housing (provided by governments) has traditionally provided the safety net for those unable to find affordable accommodation in the private sector.  However, the number of new allocations to public housing has been declining over the past few years and the demand for rental accommodation is forecast to increase with the lower end of the market experiencing the highest demand. The shortfall is likely to be met by community housing, which is expected to continue to grow in the future.

Regulation of community housing is currently undertaken at the state and territory government level with a range of legislative and administrative controls which add regulatory complexity and cost for housing providers operating in more than one jurisdiction. The current regulatory framework is also considered to undermine confidence in the sector by lenders and property developers operating nationally. 

The COAG Decision Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) notes that community housing providers and governments agree that effective regulation is required in order to manage risk, protect against organisational failure, bring down the cost of finance and help create an expanded community housing market.  The NRS is expected to yield net benefits exceeding $33.6 million over ten years.

Stakeholders generally agreed that the proposed model for the NRS is expected to reduce cost and complexity for housing providers operating across state and territory boundaries, not discriminate against housing providers seeking to enter new jurisdictions, and give greater flexibility for providers to pursue growth opportunities.  Tenants are expected to benefit from greater consistency leading to better tenant outcomes driven by national standards.

The Decision RIS was prepared by the COAG Select Council on Housing and Homelessness and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• National Regulatory System for Community Housing Providers Decision RIS [ 434 KB]
• National Regulatory System for Community Housing Providers Decision RIS [ 581]
• Appendix 1 – Cost Benefit Analysis [ 420 KB]
• Appendix 1 – Cost Benefit Analysis [ 577 KB]
• Appendix 2 – National Regulatory System for Consultation Report [ 348 KB]
• Appendix 2 – National Regulatory System for Consultation Report [ 672 KB]
• Appendix 3 – Community Housing Providers National Law [ 1 MB]
• Appendix 4 – National Regulatory System Inter-government agreement [ 67 KB]
• Appendix 4 – National Regulatory System Inter-government agreement [ 156 KB]

A Regulation Impact Statement was not prepared by the Department of the Treasury for the joint proposal. Consequently, a Post-implementation Review (PIR) was required to be undertaken in line with the Government’s best practice regulation process.

The PIR found that the one off increase in tobacco excise and excise equivalent customs duty met three of four identified policy objectives. In particular, the increase in excise:

• decreased consumption of tobacco with clearances (tobacco importation) of tobacco declining 11 per cent;
• reduced the number of tobacco smokers demonstrated by a temporary increase in attempts to quit; and
• made available additional funding for related health care through the Health and Hospitals Network Fund.

The measure did not result in a closer alignment of Australia’s tax treatment of tobacco (in terms of the ratio of taxes to the retail price of tobacco) with comparable countries over the analysis period. Although there was short-term increase in the tax proportion of the sale price, this was more than offset over the analysis period by non-tax related price increases of tobacco.

The PIR identified that the immediacy of the price increase resulted in substantial compliance costs for industry. These costs could have been avoided with a 2-3 day implementation period.  

The PIR was prepared by The Treasury and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• Post-Implementation Review: 25 Per cent Tobacco Excise Increase [ 313 KB]
• Post-Implementation Review: 25 Per cent Tobacco Excise Increase [ 725 KB]

Prepaid mobile services are viewed as a popular option for users with low usage requirements and basic or inexpensive handsets. Prepaid services generally allow users to better control their spending and are suitable for people who may not be able to pass the credit checks required for post‑paid accounts.

Prepaid mobile service providers are required by law to collect certain information about their customers and to verify their customers’ identities before activating a service. The requirements were put in place to prevent the use of anonymous prepaid services and ensure that law enforcement and security agencies can gain accurate information about prepaid customers should they need to do so during investigations.

Changes in the market have significantly reduced the effectiveness and efficiency of the current identity verification requirements. When the availability of prepaid SIMs was limited to service provider shopfronts, service providers were the only entities required to verify the identity of their customers. However, significant growth in the number of third party retailers selling SIM cards means many more entities are now required to verify the identity of prepaid mobile customers on behalf of the three main service providers. As business models shift to take advantage of the internet, the number of service providers and third party retailers integrating online activities into their business practices is increasing. In this environment the existing identity verification arrangements, which were designed to be carried out face-to-face and are predominately paper-based, are becoming increasingly ineffective and burdensome.

Problems with the current system include cost, compliance and inefficiencies in collecting and retrieving information. In response to concerns raised during consultation, the preferred option provides flexibility regarding the adoption schedule and reduces costs by not mandating commencement of the new regime from a specified date. Industry will be allowed to continue the current arrangements in the short-term and adopt new electronic verification methods as they become available. The proposal also takes into account the needs of groups who may have problems obtaining identification documents and improves privacy arrangements for prepaid mobile customers. 

It is proposed that the arrangements will be reviewed two years after the new identity verification methods become available. At that time, the removal of the existing point of sale arrangements will be considered.

The RIS was prepared by DBCDE and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• Changes to Identity Verification Requirements for Prepaid Mobile Services RIS [ 585 KB]
• Changes to Identity Verification Requirements for Prepaid Mobile Services RIS [ 825 KB]

The national scheme addresses the issues that have arisen from the highly fragmented control-of-use systems of the states and territories. These include the uncoordinated risk management of AgVet chemicals, inconsistent regulation of user access to chemicals and unnecessary regulatory burden as a result of duplication.

As outlined in the Decision Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), the agreed national scheme will harmonise minimum licensing and training requirements for businesses and individuals, chemical usage record keeping requirements and veterinary prescribing and compounding rights. The national scheme will also be supported by a nationally coordinated produce monitoring system that will monitor the level of chemical residue on produce.

SCOPI considered the Decision RIS model outlining allowable variations to approved uses (also known as off-label use) and agreed to a less extensively harmonised model than described in the Decision RIS. Chemical users will be allowed to apply any registered chemical to an approved crop – for pests other than those stated on the label/permit, at a lower application rate, with lesser frequency or mixed with another agricultural product unless such practices are specifically prohibited on the label/permit. The national scheme will harmonise these elements of jurisdictions’ control-of-use legislation, while continuing to allow variations to use provisions necessary to respond to regional needs.

The impacts of the scheme are expected to be positive overall and vary by jurisdiction. The impact on industry is expected to be a reduction in costs, especially where businesses operate across jurisdictional boundaries. It is also expected that there will be better coordination between jurisdictions in regards to control‑of‑use policy issues and an increased evidence base for ongoing improvements to the scheme.

The new scheme is generally supported by industry and will be implemented in a staged approach.

The Decision RIS was prepared by a subcommittee of SCOPI and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• AgVet Chemicals National Scheme RIS [ 1.8 MB]
• AgVet Chemicals National Scheme RIS [ 2.2 MB]

Based on information provided by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, OBPR advised that a RIS was not required for the proposal. This assessment was based on information from the department that the new Building Code 2013 was likely to have a minor impact on business as it would merely codify the existing Australian Government Implementation Guidelines for the National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry and it would not impose any new policy or obligations on industry.

Further information is included in the attached letter responding to Senator Abetz.

• Letter to the Hon Eric Abetz [ 382 KB]
• Letter to the Hon Eric Abetz [ 1 MB]

The NEPM is a risk based framework used by regulators, site assessors, consultants, environmental auditors, landowners, developers and industry to assess whether site contamination requires further investigation or remediation. A statutory review in 2005-06 found that the NEPM may not be effectively protecting health and environment outcomes due to the use of outdated methodologies. Following an extensive consultation period with key stakeholders – including state and local governments, industry, environmental consultants and academia – the approved amendment updates the NEPM in four key areas:

• ecological risk assessment;
• health risk assessment;
• asbestos; and
• petroleum hydrocarbons and other volatile substances.

While the amendment is likely to increase site assessment costs (by an estimated $32 million nationally), these costs are likely to be offset by reduced site remediation costs. The amendment will also produce (unquantified) benefits in terms of:

• more authoritative guidance;
• greater certainty for health and environment protection outcomes;
• increased opportunity for optimising costs;
• lower regulation costs; and
• improved social justice and equity for the community.

A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared by the NEPC Technical Working Group (chaired by the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation) and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• Amendment of the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure Decision RIS [ 1.4 MB]
• Amendment of the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure Decision RIS [ 1.7 MB]

Currently, licensees are only required to provide information on the adequacy of their indemnity insurance when applying for a license. Guidance from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recommends that licensees undertake their own assessment of their indemnity insurance on an ongoing basis to ensure it reflects their business needs, including risk exposure.

The St John Report found that the self‑assessment process presented a risk that licensees were not maintaining adequate indemnity insurance coverage. It also reported advice from consumer advocates that attempts to seek compensation from licensees by consumers who have suffered loss, have been frustrated due to inadequate indemnity insurance coverage.

Under the proposed changes:

• licensees will be required to provide the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) with a certificate of currency for its indemnity insurance and a declaration (signed by senior management) that the indemnity insurance meets established standards of adequacy; and
• auditors will be required to assess and state their opinion on the adequacy of licensees’ indemnity insurance.

The proposed changes will result in some additional (unquantified) costs for licensees in terms of administration and auditing expenses, however the changes should provide higher levels of certainty to consumers that claims for compensation can be met.

A Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Treasury and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• Requiring Australian Financial Services Licensees to assure ASIC on the adequacy of their professional indemnity insurance RIS [ 179 KB]
• Requiring Australian Financial Services Licensees to assure ASIC on the adequacy of their professional indemnity insurance RIS [ 214 KB]

These closures are in response to commercial gillnet fishing being identified as the main cause of a lack of recovery in populations of Australian Sea Lions in South Australia. AFMA believe that without these closures the fishery’s environmental accreditation, and therefore future operation, could be at risk. Over the past two years these closures have played a part in the significant fall in catch in the South Australian portion of the fishery.

A Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by AFMA and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• Managing interactions with Australian Sea Lions in the Gillnet Hook and Trap Sector of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery RIS [ 6 MB]
• Managing interactions with Australian Sea Lions in the Gillnet Hook and Trap Sector of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery RIS [ 2 MB]

Some stakeholders in the water sector have expressed concerns about the potential for misconduct and inappropriate practices of water market intermediaries to impact on irrigators and other water market participants. For example, there are some concerns about inappropriate use of client funds or conflicts of interest amongst some intermediaries. However, the best available evidence sourced from previous investigations into the sector suggests that any problems relating to intermediary misconduct is limited and isolated.

The Council is seeking input from stakeholders relating to the extent of intermediary misconduct and the appropriateness of the proposed options in addressing this misconduct.  The options under consideration include no action, publication of additional guidance material, a voluntary accreditation scheme and a mandatory licensing scheme.

The Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is co-ordinating the consultation process on behalf of the Council. Comments may be submitted to the Department until COB Friday 7 June 2013. For further details on the consultation process refer to the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities website.

A Consultation Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Council and assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

• Regulation of Water Market Intermediaries RIS [ 341 KB]
• Regulation of Water Market Intermediaries RIS [ 502 KB]