Vickii Wales
Regulation Taskforce 
Postal Address 
PO Box 282, Belconnen, 
ACT 2616
Email: 
info@regulationtaskforce.gov.au

6 Braidwood Avenue
North Epping NSW 2121

2 November 2005

Dear Vickii Wales, 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission to the Regulation Taskforce on reducing the regulatory burden on business. With my background in not-for-profit organisations, I see great benefit in reducing the size and number of regulations and of the prescriptive instruments added by agencies to implement those regulations. 

1.	Introduction & Scope of Submission
My submission addresses the issues paper topic of :

Practical options for alleviating red-tape.

Specifically, I address the last sentence of the issues paper, being:

“Comment could also be made on the need and form of any additional mechanisms to improve the quality of new regulation and the way regulations are handled by regulators once they are in place.”

2.	Problem
I see a systemic obstacle to the reduction of regulatory burden on business is the absence of performance incentives to maintain or reduce the scope of regulation to continually focus on the current key risks in need of regulation or prescriptive controls.

There may be instead systemic incentives to add on additional regulation or prescriptive controls for new risks without removing the old. This may drive an ongoing increase in regulation recommended by an agency to government, or in the size of prescriptive codes, guidelines, checklists or reporting prescribed by an agency on business.

3.	Solution
3.1.	Incentives For Ministerial Offices
3.1.1.	Performance incentives be introduced for Ministerial Offices, to reduce the size of overall regulation by their portfolio upon business by 10% per annum over 5 years.
3.1.2.	Self reporting by Ministerial Offices to a central point for collation of an annual whole of government report listing which regulations had been reduced and how low risk content was reduced in order to achieve the 10% reduction, while maintaining policy outcomes.

3.2.	Incentives for Agencies
3.2.1.	Performance incentives be introduced for regulatory agencies, to reduce the size of the prescriptive requirements they impose upon business by 10% per annum over 5 years.
3.2.2.	Self reporting by agencies in their annual reports of which codes, guidelines, checklists or reporting formats etc had been reduced and how low risk content was reduced in order to achieve the 10% reduction, while maintaining the regulatory outcome.
3.2.3.	 Self reporting by agencies to a central point for collation of an annual whole of government report .

4.	Conclusion
The introduction of performance incentives, pro-actively seeking a reduction in regulatory burden, or prescriptive burden will deliver a systemic driver for the reduction of regulatory burden on business. A review each year of progress in achieving the reduction, will allow the 10% targets to be re-set to advance or maintain the level of reduction that is actually delivered each year.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Maitland