Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Chifley asked an important question and I know he has asked similar questions in the House.

As you know, we had a commission of audit which was led by Tony Shepherd, with a distinguished group of former public servants and a former minister, Amanda Vanstone. It recommended a series of measures to consolidate the functions of government in order to derive important efficiencies and, ultimately, better consumer outcomes. As a result, this government has undertaken a number of reforms to reduce substantially the number of statutory bodies, agencies and committees. Where we have been able to consolidate the back-office functions of various agencies, we have done that. Where we have been able to integrate various functions within existing departments, we have done that. This has led to hundreds of millions of dollars of savings to the taxpayer.

One of the sensible reforms in this vein that we have continued with is moving PHIAC into APRA. It just makes sense, because PHIAC is responsible for—as the member for Chifley said—health insurance regulation and APRA is responsible for life insurance and general insurance regulation. Therefore, there are a lot of similarities that can be derived by bringing those two bodies together. We have engaged in extensive consultation—not just with the stakeholders but also more broadly—and as a result we have an important set of reforms which could lead over time to lower costs to the industry which, hopefully, will be passed on in the form of lower premiums.

I was asked about the number of people within APRA who do this function, and we are very satisfied that APRA does have the right number of people. As I have been advised, up to 80 per cent of the people working in PHIAC will be moving across to APRA in the first instance, and this will ensure a level of continuity. The member for Chifley can be reassured that the Minister for Health still retains the ultimate responsibility when it comes to the premium accountability, but the regulatory functions and prudential functions can be very effectively carried out by APRA in this case.

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