Morrison unveils $120 million deregulation package for business ahead of May budget

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced a $120 million deregulation package for business will be included in the upcoming budget on May 11.

Speaking at a Business Council of Australia event on Monday evening, Morrison revealed a major part of the government’s coronavirus economic recovery plan will include a comprehensive deregulation package for the country’s employers.

“We are determined to take unnecessary regulatory burdens off business, off employers, to unlock investment and to create jobs,” Morrison said.

Cutting red tape

The four-year deregulation package will seek to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses, aiming to make it easier for businesses to employ workers across a range of sectors.

Small businesses look set to benefit from one part of the package, which will boost regtech solutions for wage compliance to help SMEs comply with modern awards using new technology.

The package will also streamline reporting requirements under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme, which Morrison said will benefit more than 900 companies that report on 7,500 facilities each year.

“This will dramatically reduce time spent preparing reports in some cases by around 70 per cent,” he said.

In the health sector, the package will include measures to simplify digital services, benefiting 400 companies in the pharmaceutical, medical technology services and medical software industries.

Regulations imposed on commercial fishing businesses will be examined to help streamline data requirements and make meeting those requirements easier, while a review of the financial sector will examine regulated entities across banking, insurance, superannuation and capital markets to make communication requirements between companies and regulators more flexible.

Under the proposed package, the government estimates the benefits to businesses, individuals and not-for-profits in reduced compliance costs will average $430 million annually.

Focus on workforce

Speaking to to the leaders of some of Australia’s biggest businesses, Morrison said next month’s budget will lay out the next phase of the government’s plan to grow the economy and “deliver jobs”.

Funding for skills and training, and an improved vocational education system that Morrison called “a responsive model, not an unresponsive, supply-driven model”, will all be announced as part of the budget.

“We’re determined to make our VET system more responsive to the needs of employers and employees, so it meets their needs,” he said.

Business owners and workers who use multiple professional licenses to work across different states, for example electricians, are expected benefit from an automatic mutual recognition scheme. Under the scheme, which is estimated to affect 124,000 people, workers will no longer need multiple licenses.