The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) has announced that the rules governing the Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) framework have been strengthened.
In a statement, the Department said decision-makers can – and should – expect to have quality evidence and analysis from the Australian Public Service (APS) when asked to make major decisions.
“The Government’s RIA framework provides a structured approach to investigate and analyse the nature of a policy problem,” the Department said.
“It assesses whether Government intervention is justified, and provides the full range of policy options available to address an issue, along with the pros and cons of each option.”
It said that in order to ensure decision-makers fully considered the likely impacts on Australians, their businesses, and their communities, the RIA settings had been bolstered.
The Department said there would now be a single Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) type which the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) would assess against four tiers: ‘insufficient’, ‘adequate’, ‘good practice’ and ‘exemplary practice’.
“OBPR will no longer be required to explicitly agree regulatory costs in RISs to ensure the focus on regulatory cost does not come at the expense of understanding the broader costs and benefits of new proposals,” the Department said.
“Where a Prime Ministerial exemption from the requirement to prepare a RIS is granted, the Prime Minister may require additional analysis to be undertaken before the decision is implemented.”
The Department stressed that the RIA was not just a compliance exercise that needed to be ticked off.
“Experience shows that an RIA works best when addressed as early as possible in the policy development process,” it said.
“APS officers are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the changes to the RIA framework and to reach out to the OBPR as early as possible when tasked with preparing a RIS,” it said.
Full details of the new RIS arrangements can be accessed on the PM&C website at this PS News link.
