Australian Government agencies with responsibility for business regulation are required to publish a regulatory plan each financial year. The regulatory plan deals with changes within the agency's area of responsibility and contains information about:
- changes to business regulation which have occurred since the beginning of the previous financial year
- activities planned in the current financial year which could lead to changes to business regulation.
Regulatory plans provide business, other stakeholders and the public with access to information about changes to Australian Government business regulation. The main objective of the plan is to provide stakeholders with an early indication of potential regulatory changes.
A regulatory plan covers business regulation, including:
- primary legislation
- subordinate legislation
- quasi-regulation or treaties which directly affect business, have a significant indirect effect on business, or restrict competition.
Quasi-regulation refers to rules or arrangements used by governments to influence businesses to comply, but which do not form part of explicit government regulation.
Some regulatory activities may not have been included in the regulatory plan because they could not be foreseen when the plan was prepared. Regulatory plans are not exhaustive listings of all regulatory activity carried out by the Department.