Legislation has today passed the Parliament that will see about 12,000 regulations removed for business.
The Legislative Instruments Amendment (Sunsetting Measures) Bill 2012 will enable thousands of unnecessary regulations to be removed in an efficient, streamlined process, without the need to repeal them one-by-one.
A second set of amendments also passed today provides for a more efficient repeal or sunsetting of regulations after 10 years, and facilitates reviews of those regulations, for example, by looking at regulations across a particular industry sector as a whole.
The Government understands that reducing red tape will help Australian businesses be more productive, more efficient and more competitive, Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator Penny Wong, said.
This step is in addition to the Seamless National Economy regulatory reforms, the bulk of which will be completed by the end of 2012, and which will see business save over $4 billion per year.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says this legislation will see regulations reviewed more coherently from now on for example, by looking at regulations across a whole industry sector.
This is the first time such a major clean-up of regulations has been undertaken and will make things simpler for both businesses and individuals, Ms Roxon said.
Minister for Small Business, Brendan OConnor, says the passage of todays legislation will be welcomed by business owners across Australia.
We are committed to lifting the regulation burden for business and today will see thousands of unnecessary and redundant regulations removed, Mr OConnor said.