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Recommendations
Public interest test
1 The Committee recommends the following as necessary components of the
'public interest' process:
a) Responsibility for commissioning reviews (ie terms of reference,
nature of the review and reviewers) should be taken at Ministerial level;
b) The nature of the review should be determined taking into account
the significance, importance, diversity and sensitivity of the issue
to be considered;
c) Clear terms of reference should be developed for the review including
identification of the factors, whether in the list of factors set out
in subclause 1(3) or otherwise, that the decision maker believes is
relevant. Terms of reference should be agreed by the relevant Minister;
d) The process and its timing should be as transparent as possible;
e) A plan of the review should be developed including details of the
nature of the review to be used, resources and funding, and specify
key dates (start, end, advertisement, call for submissions, closing
date for submissions, reporting);
f) Consideration should be given to variations of the process for
example joint review, national review, etc;
g) Methodology used for weighing up the benefits and costs should
take account of both quantitative and qualitative data;
h) The review should consider the overall, wider consequences and
impacts of the decision;
i) Level of consultation may vary with the significance, diversity
and sensitivity of the review. Consultation should involve key stakeholder
groups;
j) Where possible reviewers should be independent of the existing
arrangements with more significant, more major and more sensitive reviews
demanding greater independence;
k) Where reviews are undertaken by persons closely involved in the
activity in question, there should be provision for a review or reconsideration
of the initial conclusion by some person or body independent of the
relevant activity;
l) Results of reviews and relevant key stages in the review process
shall be publicly available;
m) Where a matter is reconsidered at a later date, similar processes
to those that applied to the initial consideration should be followed;
and
n) The Parties should coordinate their efforts to achieve a common
set of basic principles to apply the 'public interest test' as outlined
in (a) to ( m) above.
The Committee recommends all jurisdictions should publish guidelines
encompassing the application of the 'public interest test'. (paragraph
2.76)
Community service obligations
2 The Committee recommends that all CSOs be explicitly defined and their
details made publicly available. (paragraph 3.41)
3 The Committee recommends that the Council of Australian Governments
address ways of better coordinating the provision of community service
obligations and welfare payments to safeguard the equitable distribution
of payments and benefits for all recipients. (paragraph 3.47)
4 The Committee recommends that the funding arrangements for both existing
and new community service obligations be transparent and assessed on a
case-by-case basis. (paragraph 3.74)
5 The Committee recommends that any decision by a party to contract
out the provision of community service obligations is most appropriately
made on a case-by-case basis. Any contracting arrangement should contain
clearly identified performance criteria and exit provisions. (paragraph
3.90)
6 The Committee recommends all governments:
a) require their government business enterprises to include in their
annual reports and corporate/business plans or other publicly available
documents detailed information on the objectives, definition, costing,
funding and contracting arrangements for community service obligations;
and
b) implement effective monitoring programs for community service obligations
and ensure that those programs be outcome oriented. (paragraph 3.100)
Implications for the efficient delivery of services by local government
7 The Treasurer as a matter of priority address the issue of taxation of
local government businesses at the next meeting of the Council of Australian
Governments as under the current regime there is a powerful disincentive
to corporatise. (paragraph 4.54)
8 The Committee recommends that State and Territory Governments encourage
their local councils to more urgently implement appropriate accounting
and financial management systems to assist resource allocation decisions,
including those relating to community service obligations. (paragraph
4.63)
Related issues
9 The Committee recommends that following the completion of the current
assessment round the Council of Australian Governments evaluate the dual
role of the National Competition Council to determine if both roles are
appropriate. (paragraph 5.12)
10 The Committee recommends the National Competition Council adopt a
more open approach to its work and be more active in disseminating information
about the activities of the Council and National Competition Policy. (paragraph
5.15)
11 The Committee recommends that the review of the need for and operation
of the National Competition Council after it has been in existence for
five years be an independent review and if the review determines the Council
is to continue, a sunset clause on this matter be inserted into the Competition
Principles Agreement. (paragraph 5.18)
12 The Committee recommends that the Treasurer ensure that:
a) the assessment for payment of both the Financial Assistance Grants
and Competition Payments be performance based and reflect both the spirit
and intent of the competition policy reform legislation and the inter-governmental
agreements; and
b) details of the assessment outcomes and process are made publicly
available following each tranche's assessment. (paragraph 5.32)
13 The Committee recommends that the State, Territory and Commonwealth
Governments put in place measurement and monitoring systems so that the
outcomes of implementing national competition policy can be adequately
assessed in the future. (paragraph 5.34)
14 The Committee recommends that all agencies involved in the implementation
of national competition policy devote resources to ensure community understanding
and debate about the contents of the policy and its outcomes. (paragraph
5.39)
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