Regulation

Overview

Regulations help to protect the health and safety of the New South Wales community, make our economy work better and create the society we want. But overly burdensome regulation can stifle innovation and slow productivity. Regulation should be regularly reviewed and updated to make sure it is relevant, understandable and easy to comply with. Technology can make interacting with regulation more convenient for citizens and regulatory requirements should be updated periodically to keep up with technological change.

Draft recommendation 4.1: Test our COVID-19 regulatory experiments

Extend the operation of temporary COVID-19 regulatory changes for 12 months while we evaluate their success. Keep them in place where we see a net public benefit.

Draft recommendation 4.2: Retain regulatory and legal relaxations

Retain the temporary adjustments to regulatory and legal formalities, including digital solutions to replace paper-based reporting, physical witnessing and attestation of documents and various other in-person requirements for compliance. Explore opportunities to similarly update other outdated regulatory requirements.

Draft recommendation 4.3: Recognise outside occupational licences from other jurisdictions

Pursue automatic mutual recognition, or if that is not possible, unilaterally recognise occupational licences from other jurisdictions to help overcome skills shortages in New South Wales.

Draft recommendation 4.4: Reform mandatory Continuing Professional Development requirements

Reform mandatory Continuing Professional Development requirements—where their costs exceed their benefits, remove them.

Draft recommendation 4.5: Open up pharmacy ownership and location

Remove pharmacy ownership and location restrictions, with licence requirements targeted at pharmacist control of quality systems and practices. Allow pharmacies to co-locate with supermarkets.

Draft recommendation 4.6: Improve access to over-the-counter medicines

Work with the Commonwealth Government to evaluate the costs and benefits of the current restrictions applying to over-the-counter medicines, including Schedule 2 (pharmacy-only) and Schedule 3 (pharmacists-only) medicines. Explore opportunities to abolish or relax the regulation, where the costs outweigh the benefits.

Draft recommendation 4.7: Better use pharmacists’ skills to improve consumer choice and convenience

Evaluate the costs and benefits of reforms to make better use of pharmacists’ skills, including letting pharmacists more often prescribe medicines and provide more vaccinations with fewer restrictions.

Draft recommendation 4.8: Further open up retail trading

Build on retail trading measures introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and allow all retailers to trade on restricted trading days, on the condition that staff freely elect to work.

Draft recommendation 4.9: Review current restrictions on the retail sale of packaged alcohol

Review the restrictions on supermarkets, general stores and other retailers selling packaged alcohol, particularly low-alcohol beverages, for off-premises consumption to promote competition and opportunities for small business.

Draft recommendation 4.10: Remove single-desk rice marketing

Allow the single-desk export arrangement for rice grown in New South Wales to expire on 30 June 2022, unless it can be shown that it delivers a net economic benefit to the community.

Draft recommendation 4.11: End separate state restrictions on genetically modified crops

Allow the Gene Technology (GM Crop Moratorium) Act 2003 (NSW) to expire on 1 July 2021.

 

Draft recommendation 4.12: Review NSW’s rail access regime

Have the Independent Pricing Regulatory Tribunal review the NSW Rail Access undertaking, including its interaction with the national rail access regime.

Draft recommendation 4.13: Update competitive neutrality policy

Have the Independent Pricing Regulatory Tribunal update the NSW Government’s competitive neutrality policy and processes.

Draft recommendation 4.14: Regulate to let Personal Mobility Devices fulfil their potential

Revise laws to encourage Personal Mobility Device innovation and use.

Draft recommendation 4.15: Local government information and collaboration

Improve regulatory practices in local government by expanding the scope of the 'Your Council' website. Encourage greater regulatory collaboration between state regulators and local councils.

Draft recommendation 4.16: Promote more flexible rules for the use of drones

Work with the Commonwealth regulator to support greater take-up of drones in industry, beginning with the agricultural sector.

Draft recommendation 4.17: Make e conveyancing interoperable

Support the implementation of interoperability in the NSW e-conveyancing market as a matter of urgency.

Draft recommendation 4.18: Align New South Wales with national childcare requirements

Ease childcare costs by bringing NSW requirements into line with national requirements for additional early childhood teachers.

Draft recommendation 4.19: Introduce an adaptable and forward-looking regulatory framework

Create a best-practice regulatory policy framework, with Regulatory Stewardship as the cornerstone, that promotes rigorous and transparent impact assessments and improves regulator performance.

Digital Assets

View and share information about the Continuing the productivity discussion green paper.

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