David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence, Minister representing the Minister for Defence Personnel and Science and Minister representing the Minister for Defence Materiel, upon notice, on 1 November 2012:

(1) How many Australian Public Service full time equivalent staff are engaged by each department, agency and authority in relation to the:

(a) creation;

(b) administration or management; and

(c) enforcement of new or existing Acts of Parliament, legislative instruments and quasi-regulation.

(2) What and how many:

(a) compliance requirements;

(b) industry guidelines;

(c) best practice procedures;

(d) codes of conduct; and

(e) any other industrial manuals/documents, have been created since December 2007.

(3) Was an Annual Regulatory Plan completed for each of the 2009 10, 2010 11, 2011 12, and 2012-13 financial years, and will a plan be completed for the 2013 14 financial year.

(4) For the 2009 10, 2010 11, 2011 12, and 2012-13 financial years:

(a) how many pieces of regulation, including Acts of Parliament, legislative instruments and quasi-regulation, were included in each Annual Regulatory Plan; and

(b) were the same, more or fewer pieces of regulation passed as anticipated in each Annual Regulatory Plan:

  (i) if more, which pieces of regulation were passed in addition to the plan, and

  (ii) if fewer, which pieces of regulation were not passed and why were they not passed.

(5) Does each department, agency and authority assess the total costs associated with its regulatory measures; if so:

(a) what is the total:

  (i) direct, and

  (ii) indirect, regulatory cost burden that each department, agency and authority imposes on the non-government sector; and

(b) how much regulatory cost has each department, agency and authority:

  (i) imposed, and

  (ii) removed, from the non-government sector since August 2010.

(6) Does each department, agency and authority impose a cost-recovery scheme on the non-government sector; if so:

(a) what are the cost recovery programs;

(b) what fees are currently being imposed; and

(c) in each case, by how much have these fees increased since August 2010.

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question.

(1-2) The creation, administration and enforcement of Acts of Parliament, legislative instruments and quasi-regulation occurs across the entirety of Defence. Due to the breath and complexity of the question, an unreasonable amount of departmental resources would be required to develop a response.

(3-5) Annual Regulatory Plans are managed within the Finance and Deregulation. Please refer to the response provided by the Minister for Finance and Deregulation to Question on Notice No. 2469.

(6) The current guidance on cost recovery is available from http://www.finance.gov.au/financial- framework/financial-management-policy-guidance/cost-recovery.html

In relation to annual reporting, in accordance with Finance Circular 2005/09 all agencies with significant cost recovery arrangements need to prepare Cost Recovery Impact Statements (CRIS) when:

Only when a CRIS is prepared are agencies required to report annually. Under this circumstance, agencies need to separately identify all cost recovery revenues in notes to financial statements – to be published in portfolio budget statements and annual reports consistent with the Finance Minister's Orders.