Business and the community are being consulted on the draft of a new law overhauling Government regulations.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) has developed the draft Regulator Performance Omnibus Bill 2022, to update or remove outdated administrative provisions across Commonwealth laws.
In a statement PM&C said that in many cases the Regulations imposed an unnecessary burden and prevented regulators from engaging with business and supporting compliance in a modern and flexible way.
PM&C said it had worked closely with other Commonwealth Departments and regulators to identify suitable provisions for inclusion in the Bill.
“The Bill is the first of its kind to take a whole-of-Australian Government approach to regulator best practice and performance,” the Department said.
“If enacted, the Bill will progress 46 amendments across 17 Commonwealth Acts, which improve or streamline administrative processes, repeal provisions which serve no current purpose, or remove legal uncertainty.”
PM&C said the Bill would help drive Australia’s economic recovery by facilitating modern and efficient regulator engagement with business and the community.
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ben Morton said that for too long both businesses and regulators had been wading through a sea of unnecessary paperwork or process — from provisions that were legally ambiguous, to those that were “downright unnecessary”.
“We have listened to these frustrations and this Bill acts on them, but we want to make sure these changes work for businesses, the community and regulators, so I strongly encourage anyone impacted to have their say,” Mr Morton said.
Consultation closes on 14 January 2022.
The draft Bill and accompanying draft explanatory documents can be downloaded at this PS News link.
