The BCA welcomes the opportunity to respond to all five interim reports developed as part of the Productivity Commission’s Five Pillars of Productivity Inquiries. We are a member-led organisation, and our submissions reflect engagement with those members and the expertise and practical experience they bring.
This submission focuses on our response to the report titled Creating a more dynamic and resilient economy released for comment on 31 July 2025. We provide our detailed observations and recommendations in response to the draft recommendations and information requests. These are summarised below:
- The BCA strongly opposes the introduction of a complex and distortionary Net Cashflow Tax that would further raise Australia’s already uncompetitive corporate tax rate for large firms, distort investment decisions, and risk entrenching a sub-optimal two-tier system; The BCA welcomes recognition that the current inefficient corporate tax system is in need of reform. This has been a longstanding point of advocacy on the part of the BCA, and we would welcome, and actively contribute to a wider discussion on tax reform to boost productivity.
- A key theme from the report and the Economic Reform Roundtable is the urgent need to improve Australia’s regulatory environment. Poorly designed, duplicative, and inconsistent regulation imposes significant costs on businesses and consumers, discourages investment, and weakens Australia’s competitiveness. By contrast, better regulation reduces red tape, supports business productivity, fosters job creation, and delivers better outcomes for consumers. The BCA’s Better Regulation report outlines a comprehensive reform agenda, including the appointment of a Cabinet-level Minister for Better Regulation, a legislated commitment to regulatory stocktakes and cost-reduction targets (e.g. 25 per cent red tape reduction by 2030), improved policy impact analysis, better coordination through an expanded regulatory grid, and a regulatory economic star rating for new policies. We support all three of the Productivity Commission’s draft recommendations on regulatory reform and emphasise the need for whole-of-system accountability to drive meaningful regulatory reform that makes it easier to do business in Australia.