Annual Review 2002,
Regulations 2002

Practice Notes

In order to assist the Regulation Review Subcommittee with its work, the Subcommittee has prepared a series of Practice Notes.[53] These are designed to provide department and agency officers with additional guidance when preparing regulations. The Practice Notes deal with recurring issues which the Regulation Review Subcommittee has been presented with over the past 12 months. It would assist the Regulation Review Subcommittee in its work if department and agency officers could be guided by the procedures contained in these Practice Notes.

Inquiry into the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994

On 14 March 2000 the Victorian Parliament requested the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee to inquire into, consider and report on the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994. As the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994 concerns regulations, the Regulation Review Subcommittee was given responsibility for conducting this Inquiry on behalf of the Committee. The Committee’s final report was tabled in Parliament in September 2002 and involves a comprehensive evaluation of the existing Victorian scrutiny and regulatory systems, an overview of regulation-making processes throughout Australia and an assessment of the regulatory approach taken in six jurisdictions within the United States.

In March 2003 the Committee received the Government Response to its Report and is pleased that many of its recommendations have been accepted. The Committee notes that some of its key recommendations were not accepted by the Government. The Committee acknowledges that some of these recommendations were rejected because they would have involved additional resources. Appendix 4 of this Annual Review contains a copy of the Government Response to the Committee’s Recommendations.

The Regulation Review Subcommittee and the Committee are now following through on the implementation of those recommendations which have been accepted by the Government. The Committee notes that its recommendations concerning training on the Regulation Impact Statement process have already been implemented. On 1 August 2003 the Office of Regulation Reform conducted a training program with approximately 90 public servants representing all departments in attendance. The Regulation Review Subcommittee’s Legal Adviser made a presentation on the RIS process from the Subcommittee’s perspective, explaining the sorts of problems encountered and what steps can be taken to overcome these.

Feedback on the training program reveal it was a great success.