The First Red Tape Repeal Day for Commonwealth

Wednesday 19 March 2014 @ 10.58 a.m. | Corporate & Regulatory | Legal Research | Trade & Commerce

Today (Wednesday 19 March 2014) the Federal Coalition government is expected to bring on the first of what are being called "red tape repeal days". The government is saying that in the name of a "simpler more cost effective process"  around 8000 regulations and legislative instruments are to be repealed.

It is being reported that the Prime Minister will begin the extensive repeal process with the introduction of an "omnibus red tape repeal Bill"( see more below). The Bill will target, according to reports, cuts to bureaucratic compliance costs for business and households, producing estimated savings reported to be more than $300 million. Along with the omnibus Bill it is reported that more than a dozen other Bills designed to "strip away regulation and red tape" will be introduced today (Wednesday 19 March 2014) by the various coalition cabinet ministers for their individual portfolios.

Already in the Ring

Already the government has introduced a number of subordinate legislation items (13 to date) that show how far the governments plans will reach. The subordinate legislation covers Subordinate Legislation  Nos 13 to 26 and affects areas of regulation including, among others, veterans' affairs and social services,  infrastructure, immigration, border protection, health, employment, environment and education. 

Expected in the Ring Today

The Omnibus Repeal Day (Autumn 2014) Bill 2014 (the Bill) is described as a whole of government initiative to amend or repeal legislation across 10 portfolios and is touted by the government as introducing measures to reduce regulatory burden for business, individuals and the community sector that are not the subject of individual stand-alone bills also to be introduced.

Examples of the areas covered by the Bill are:

  • Streamlining reporting and information provision requirements for telecommunications providers under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.
  • Removing the certification requirement under the Aged Care Act 1997 that replicates state, territory and local government building regulations.
  • Exempting low volume importers from the licensing requirements of the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989.

The Bill also includes measures that repeal redundant and spent Acts and provisions in Commonwealth Acts and complements the measures included in the Statute Law Revision Bill (No. 1) 2014 and the Amending Acts 1901 to 1969 Repeal Bill 2014.

The Amending Acts 1901 to 1969 Repeal Bill 2014 has as the main purpose to repeal amending and repeal Acts (which will result in the repeal of over 1,000 Acts). This is said to be "desirable because it will reduce the regulatory burden and make accessing the law simpler for both businesses and individuals".

Other aims are the facilitation of the publication of consolidated versions of Acts by the Commonwealth and by private publishers of legislation. It should be noted the Bill does not deal with the repeal of Acts enacted after 1969, these are to be repealed separately at a later date. It should also be noted that in all cases, the repeal of the Acts by the Bill will not "substantially alter existing arrangements or make any change to the substance of the law". The repealed Acts will remain publicly accessible on ComLaw as historical records (and within the archives of private publishers as well, no doubt).

Some Key Areas Affected

One area of interest likely to be affected in the flood of expected repeals and changes to be introduced today, is the  Personal Property and Securities Act (the PPSA) which the government says will be simplified.

The Small Business Minister is reported by SmartCompany as saying that:

"the Coalition is looking at reducing the 'regulatory burden and the costs which fall on industry, particularly small business, as a result of the Personal Property Securities Registry (PPSR)'”.

The likely changes are reported to be:

  • increasing the length of time an item needs to be leased for a business to be required to register it from 90 days to a year,
  • altering the classification of a motor vehicle under the Act as currently, a motor vehicle has a mandatory requirement for anything which can go 10 km an hour or has one or more motors with a total power greater than 200 watts, to a motor vehicle must have a travel speed of at least 10 km an hour and one or more motors - to remedy situations where it has been found according to the minister packaging machines, scissor lifts, excavating vehicles and even stationary cement mixes have had to be registered as motor vehicles.

The changes are said to be motivated particularly by rental businesses who say the laws have resulted in "extra compliance burdens".

Another area said to be targeted is the method by which paid parental leave payments are made and the Small Business Minister is quoted as saying:

“We’re having another go and I’ll be introducing legislation to repeal the pay clerk burden on businesses under the existing laws, so it only happens when the employer and the employee opt in, resulting in a $48 million saving for private sector and not-for-profit companies.”

Finally, a key area of change likely to be attempted to be pushed through in the current red tape repeal is the amendments to Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms on the grounds such changes will reduce red tape for business (savings estimated to be $190 million a year). This is a move being criticised as lacking "proper detailed analysis on the consumer impact" and "smack[ing] of policy on the run".

The FOFA reforms, as is reported in the SMH, were introduced by the former government to reduce the risks of more collapses of financial advice businesses like Storm Financial, Opes Prime and Westpoint. As the SMH reports, ". . . since 2006 there have been more than $6 billion of financial advice collapses, affecting more than 120,000 Australians".

Given this, and reported submissions by Industry Super Australia citing analysis by Rice Warner Actuaries estimating the proposed changes will cost consumers twice as much over the next 15 years, it might seem prudent that this measure be considered a little beyond its "red tape" implications and apparent savings.

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.

Sources:

Related Articles: