Edition 64, January/February 2009

Research report on national approaches to regulation

The Productivity Commission has released a research report on national approaches to regulation.

Based on a 2008 report on chemicals and plastics in regulation in Australia, the supplementary report uses the findings of the regulatory framework in chemicals and plastics to assess the effectiveness of national approaches to regulation.

The regulation of chemicals and plastics in Australia is a complex area. It involves the Commonwealth and all states and territories and cuts across many different aspects of public policy including public health, workplace safety, environmental protection and national security.

The Commission�s 2008 report addressed many of these issues and proposed reforms to improve the regulatory framework.

This supplementary research report, Chemicals and Plastics Regulation: Lessons for National Approaches to Regulation, elaborates on the federalism issues arising in the research report and identifies a number of mechanisms that Australian governments have used to coordinate national approaches to regulation.

The paper describes the governance arrangements, institutions, procedural mechanisms and incentive structures, assesses their strengths and weaknesses, and draws out some implications for the broader regulatory reform agenda, within the context of Australia�s federal framework.

In most cases, national approaches to regulation were found to deliver significant benefits compared with each state and territory pursuing its own approach.

This supplementary paper provides a more detailed examination of some of the features of these national arrangements.

National approaches to regulation should draw on the strengths of each level of government:

  • Commonwealth, state and territory governments acting together through Ministerial Councils or other forums can provide leadership and policy frameworks for national issues.


  • The Australian Government may be best placed to play a role in policy coordination, and to undertake national risk assessments.


  • State and territory governments are often best placed to enforce regulations and respond to the needs of sub-national constituencies.

Improvements in national consistency can be achieved through a range of mechanisms, including through jurisdictions:

  • adopting uniform regulations
  • harmonising key elements of their regulatory frameworks
  • mutually recognising other jurisdictions� regulations.

For more information visit www.pc.gov.au/projects/study/chemicalsandplastics/docs/supplement

This page was generated on 26 August, 2009