Members of the Australian Public Service (APS) have been told they can access updated guidance on policy development in a guide refreshed by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Office of Impact Analysis (OIA).
Launching its Australian Government Guide to Policy Impact Analysis, OIA said the guide (previously known as Australian Government Guide to Regulatory Impact Analysis) was an important resource in supporting the APS as they developed new policies.
“It is key in helping Government Agencies make informed policy decisions and outlines the steps to take when undertaking impact analysis,” the OIA said.
“This Guide helps policy makers reflect on how policy can affect people, businesses and community as well as its broader economic and competition impacts,” it said.
“The Government’s rigorous approach to policy making seeks to ensure that the costs and benefits of new policy are understood from all angles.”
OIA said the Government’s Impact Analysis (IA) framework would ensure decision makers were provided with the necessary evidence base to make decisions that would best support a stronger economy and guarantee the essentials that Australians relied on to prosper.
It said policy makers were expected to aim to prepare an IA that was assessed as exemplary.
The Office said that alongside a name change, the Guide had a new look and feel with minor content updates, including ‘evaluation’ made a standalone item to recognise its importance in the policy development lifecycle.
OIA said IAs could now only be certified by Agency heads or Deputy Secretaries, eliminating delegation arrangements.
It said the Guide, effective from 1 March, also stipulated that Agencies could only self-certify documents as ‘Impact Analysis equivalents’ with the prior agreement of the Office.
OIA’s 55-page Australian Government Guide to Policy Impact Analysis can be accessed at this PS News link.
