No. 37 

NEW REGULATORY OFFICE REDUCES BURDEN

Attorney-General Simon Corbell has announced the establishment of an Office of Regulatory Services, to be responsible for a broad range of business, occupational and consumer regulation. 

“Dealing separately with several agencies can be unnecessarily complex, and the establishment of the Office of Regulatory Services is a focused and simplified regulatory arrangement that will lead to more effective government interaction with industry and the public,” Mr Corbell said. 

The functions to be incorporated into the Central Regulatory Office are those performed by:
•	the Office of Fair Trading;
•	the Registrar-General’s Office;
•	ACT WorkCover;
•	the licensing and regulatory functions of the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission;
•	regulatory activities related to parking operations, tobacco-licensing and smoke-free regulation; and
•	approvals and administration of a range of business activities associated with the use of public land.

“While the diversity, complexity and size of regulatory activities undertaken across the ACT Government precludes the establishment of a single entity, the Central Regulatory Office will enable a ‘one-stop-shop’ approach to a greater range of industry interaction with government”, Mr Corbell said.

Mr Corbell said the Government is increasingly searching for ways to improve services. 

“Regulatory functions have many common activities, including consumer and trade assistance, licensing and compliance, and efficiencies and reduced duplication will lead to savings of $1.9 million in 2006-07, and $3.8 million in future years,” he said.