The Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) has published a report on the governance structures of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC).
The research project, commissioned by the Government as part of a review into the QBCC’s governance arrangements, provides an analysis of QBCC’s current structure and its risk-based regulatory approach.
Conducted by ANZSOG’s Andrew Bushnell, Patrick Brownlee and Subho Banerjee, the report covers the background and context for regulation of the building and construction sector in Queensland, sets out comparative practices in other jurisdictions, and draws best practice evidence from international research.
In a statement, ANZSOG said the report discussed the QBCC’s interpretation of Queensland’s risk-based regulatory approach in light of some of the relevant literature.
“Finally, it considers the capabilities and values appropriate for a regulator like the QBCC with that kind of regulatory approach,” ANZSOG said.
It said the report stressed that the values embodied in a regulator like QBCC should reflect the desirability of decision-makers at all levels being empowered to develop their understanding of the regulatory environment.
“This is vital for protecting the regulator’s credibility and shaping the regulatory environment,” the School said.
“Overall, the critical underpinning of good governance in such a complex sector is to have an insights-driven approach, as is borne out by the ongoing regulatory reform process in response to recent events in Australia and internationally.”
It said it was therefore crucial to ensure that the governance, resourcing and capabilities of the QBCC enabled it to be set up for success on this basis into the future.
ANZSOG said it had not put forward recommendations in the report, but instead offered a number of observations for further consideration in the review process.
The full report and other Research Insights publications are available on the ANZSOG website at this PS News link.
