A good regulatory system will respond to emerging risks in a rational, predictable, efficient and effective manner. It will allocate the risks that society faces to those who are best able to manage them.

In a good regulatory system, regulators will enforce regulations in a way that assures individuals, the community and businesses that regulatory objectives are being achieved at the lowest possible cost.

The Business Council of Australia’s Policy Essentials: Standards for Rule Making publication details how the regulatory system should operate to produce outcomes that are in the public interest.

The document details 30 standards that are organised around five central principles:

1.    The problem to be solved is well understood
2.    New regulation is subject to cost–benefit analysis
3.    Regulation achieves its objectives at least cost
4.    Regulators perform efficiently
5.    Regulation is constantly reviewed

The standards are designed to contribute to current deliberations by Australian governments on how to improve their regulatory systems.

The BCA will also use these standards to assess whether proposals for new regulation are in the public interest, the relative merits of different jurisdictions’ regulatory systems and the performance of regulators.

The BCA ‘Policy Essentials’ occasional series provides practical resources to promote good public policy governance and practice in Australia.

Download: Policy Essentials: Standards for Rule Making