Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation

The Productivity Commission’s research report into ‘Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation’ was released in March 2007. The Australian Government asked the Commission to develop a framework to benchmark regulatory regimes and their cost burdens across all levels of government for stage 1 of a two-stage study. The Commission found that benchmarking regulatory compliance burdens across all jurisdictions in Australia is technically feasible. Furthermore, it could yield significant benefits. However there are significant complexities involved. For stage 2 of the study, the Commission has proposed a program to benchmark compliance costs involved in establishing and running businesses both within and across jurisdictions. Seven areas of regulation have been identified as priorities for the first three years, including business registrations, occupational health and safety, land development assessments, environmental approvals, stamp duty and payroll tax, financial services regulation, and food safety. In April 2007, COAG considered the Commission's report and agreed to proceed to the second stage of the project to extend over three years. This first year of the three-year Stage 2 program will cover the quantity and quality of regulation, as well as the compliance costs of business registration. Further information is available from the Commissions website http://www.pc.gov.au/.