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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 5 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 1476 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

government agencies. For example, agencies are now required to undertake a regulatory needs analysis and a business impact assessment when proposing new regulatory measures or reviewing existing legislation. The regulatory needs analysis enables the agency to determine whether a regulatory approach is the best or only way to achieve a particular outcome. The business impact assessment is used to ensure that any regulatory measure will have the minimum possible impact on business while still fully achieving its objective.

Agencies are also required to develop annual regulatory plans. The plans, which are tabled in the Assembly by 30 September each year, provide the Government and the business community with advance notice of proposals for new regulations or regulatory reform. Agencies are required to report against their regulatory plans at the end of each financial year.

Mr Speaker, in June this year I announced a suite of budget initiatives for employment and business growth. A number of business support programs have been specifically developed to help remove obstacles for businesses in Canberra and to help them become more efficient and more effective organisations. This year, 1998-99, will see significant steps being made in the development of an ACT business channel that will provide an operator and Internet-based information service on business programs. Business channel will provide an entry point for businesses wishing to deal with the ACT Government, including an ability to undertake a number of electronic transactions with government agencies. It will also be linked with the Commonwealth's business entry point to enable businesses to access information from all jurisdictions at one entry point.

As part of this initiative, the stage 2 development of the ACT Business Licence Information Service will enable access to licence information via the Internet. Since its launch in November last year, ACT BLIS has proven to be successful in cutting the red tape businesses face when dealing with the Government through the provision of a "one-stop shop" for information on all ACT Government licensing requirements. In the last nine months BLIS has dealt with over 3,000 inquiries on business licensing issues and has distributed over 1,300 information packs to both prospective and existing small business operators.

The establishment of a new ACT Industrial Supplies Office is a service to government and to private sector purchasers and suppliers to encourage sourcing of goods and services within Australia and New Zealand. An Industrial Supplies Office in Canberra will help ACT suppliers be considered for contracts elsewhere in Australia and for purchasers to understand our local business capabilities. Funding has also been allocated to establish the Australian electronic business network which is aimed at assisting and encouraging local businesses to use electronic commerce.

A number of business assistance programs will provide financial support for business activities that have the potential for growth. For example, the small business loans guarantee scheme will offer small loans to graduates from approved mentoring or small business planning programs to assist them in establishing their own businesses. The highly successful new futures in small business program will continue to assist mature-aged unemployed people, particularly those who have been retrenched or made redundant, who wish to go into business to gain fundamental business skills and access business mentoring support.

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