Report can help cut red tape on small business

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has welcomed the release of the Productivity Commission’s final report on regulatory engagement with small business.

The study, says ACCI, is a positive initiative and its findings should provide further support for the new government’s deregulation agenda - particularly relating to small business.

The Productivity Commission report outlines that robust frameworks and regulator culture are crucial to improving regulatory effectiveness. Changing these core elements of regulatory systems is easier said than done and requires exacting discipline from governments and greater transparency and accountability on the part of regulators.

Regulation imposes costs on business and these cost burdens are invariably passed on to consumers and the broader economy in the form of higher prices.

While minimum effective regulation can meet legitimate economic and social objectives, it is vital that it does so in a way that appropriately balances the costs of regulation against its potential benefits. It is clear from the report that this balance is not yet being achieved.

ACCI Chief Executive Peter Anderson said, “Bad regulation has a human cost for small business people; it is in the hundreds of hours slumped over government forms, thousands of dollars wasted and jobs that could be created but aren’t.

“That’s why along with our members we ran the pre-election ‘Small Business. Too Big to Ignore’ campaign this year, and will continue to call on politicians of all persuasions to work together to cut down on the red tape and give small business a break.

“We have already started working closely with the new government and relevant ministers to make this happen,” Anderson said.