Edition 44, May 2007

Benchmarking regulatory burdens on business

Significant benefits could be gained from benchmarking regulatory compliance burdens across all jurisdictions, according to a report from the Productivity Commission, Performance benchmarking of Australian business regulation.

The report states that benchmarking can help shed light on where and how regulatory burdens might be reduced while still meeting regulatory objectives.

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 registration, occupational health and safety, land development assessments and environmental approvals.

As well as benchmarking regulatory compliance costs, the Commission intends to benchmark the quality and quantity of regulation. It is argued that this would help to identify systemic problems that can result in poorly designed, administered or enforced regulation.

The report is a response to a request from the Council of Australian Governments that the Productivity Commission assess the feasability of regulatory benchmarking and put forward options. Subject to the Council of Australian Governments' agreement, the Productivity Commission would proceed to the next stage of collecting data and reporting on performance standards.

For more information and a copy of the report, visit www.pc.gov.au/study/regulationbenchmarking/

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