Page 3043 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 16 September 2015
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The government is also cutting red tape for business through the operation of Access Canberra and regular red tape reduction legislation. Regulatory reform and red tape reduction are a priority for this government. In June we introduced the Red Tape Reduction Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 and undertook to present at least one red tape reduction omnibus bill to the Assembly each year.
The bill complemented the government’s program of significant regulatory reform initiatives by removing specific provisions that have been identified as redundant or as an unnecessary administrative cost to business and to government. The bill also supported the effective operation of Access Canberra, which the government has established to facilitate a single contact point for all regulatory services in the territory.
The ACT government has a longstanding commitment to remove the red tape that creates unnecessary burdens on businesses and the community. Reducing red tape can be achieved by making regulations operate more flexibly. Our latest red tape reduction bill allows for public notices to be provided online as well as in newspapers. This will give government agencies the opportunity to more effectively target audiences and will reduce information search times for business and the community. We are modernising requirements for public notices in the ACT legislation to enable notification of public notices on an ACT government website.
Through internal administrative improvements, we established Access Canberra to provide a one-stop shop to cut red tape and streamline regulatory services for individuals and businesses. The new Access Canberra shopfront at Gungahlin’s Winyu House is already showing signs of success in improving the ACT’s regulatory framework.
The ACT government has also spearheaded reforming legislation on the licensing of hawkers, which will be brought under the Public Unleased Land Act. As part of this reform, we are also extending permits under the Public Unleased Land Act 2013 from two to three years. We are also continuing to reduce business administration and compliance costs. With the workers compensation changes alone, we will remove 70,000—70,000, Madam Speaker—extra administrative transactions per annum. We are also reducing reporting requirements for employers in the territory by changing wage declarations for workers compensation insurance purposes from six months to 12 months as a part of the government’s reforms.
As I have demonstrated, by implementing the confident & business ready strategy the ACT government continues to work to ensure Canberra’s business environment remains competitive and attractive for local, interstate and international businesses. We are working with employers, local businesses, unions and the community to continue to create and support local jobs and a diversified, dynamic, innovative economy here in Canberra.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Urban Renewal and Minister for Tourism and Events) (10.23): The opposition appears reluctant to enter into the debate so I am sure we are going to—
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