COSBOA has joined a broad alliance of industry associations calling for more consistent and workable consultation on complex legislative and regulatory reforms.
The call comes amid growing concern across the business community that rushed policy processes and compressed consultation periods are contributing to avoidable uncertainty, implementation challenges and unintended consequences.
In a joint letter to senior Ministers, 30 organisations representing businesses and industries across the Australian economy have raised concerns that increasingly short consultation windows are limiting the opportunity for affected businesses and organisations to properly assess proposed reforms and provide meaningful input.
The letter points to Australian Government guidance that provides for consultation periods of 30-60 days for significant reforms, while a number of recent consultations have provided substantially less time.
For small business, this is particularly important. Recent examples include consultation on the minimum tax on discretionary trusts, which ran for just 12 business days, and the proposed Digital Duty of Care legislation, which allowed only 11 business days for stakeholders to respond.
COSBOA has raised concerns about both reforms and the potential impact on small businesses.
The Alliance is calling on the Government to strengthen Cabinet scrutiny of new regulation, appoint an independent Office of Impact Analysis Commissioner and establish standard minimum stakeholder consultation periods across Commonwealth policy initiatives.
