2018-08-07 S&O Agenda - Att 1 to Item 7 - Public Interest Test Report

                         Public Interest Test Plan — Noosa Shire Council
Administration and Other Local Laws (Amendment) Local Law (No. 1) 2018 and Administration and Other
Subordinate Local Laws (Amendment) Subordinate Local Law (No. 1) 2018                        Page 9

       Master licensing

       Negative licensing

       Empowering consumers

Further information on each type of alternative is provided in the Department of Local Government
guidelines on conducting public interests tests.

As stated earlier, Council believes that some form of local government regulation or control is required
to ensure that accommodation parks are properly operated and maintained. It is therefore considered
that there are no non-regulatory alternatives which are viable. Given the need to monitor operations
in accommodation parks Council considers there is only one regulatory alternative which is a realistic
option - negative licensing.

Negative licensing - Under a negative licensing regime there is no requirement to first obtain an
approval to enter the market. The presumption in this regime is that an operator is prepared to play
by the “rules” if they know what they are. No approval is required and no fees are paid. Other
characteristics of a negative licensing regime include:

       notification that an operator is in a particular line of business is “collected” during the course
        of day-to-day business, rather than prior to commencement;

       operators are charged a token fee for certification that their operations comply with standards;

       operators who wilfully fail to comply are fined heavily and immediately - the greater the
        breach, the greater the fine;

       the rules/requirements are published periodically, together with details about the availability of
        training;

       consumers are educated as well as operators;

       complaints are responded to swiftly and forcefully.

Changes Required to Local Law under a Negative Licensing System and Implications:

Under a negative licensing regime, the local law would need to be amended to remove the
requirement for operators to obtain an approval before operating an accommodation park and to set
generic conditions which would apply to the operation of all accommodation parks (in place of
individual approval conditions) in the local government area. The opportunity to set site specific
conditions would thus be removed.

As a consequence, if Council wanted subsequently to change the generic conditions, the local law
would need to be amended. Under the approval system, Council could change the conditions
imposed in an approval either with the agreement of the operator or after giving written notice. It is
considered the impact of this loss would be medium. As well as setting generic conditions, the local
law could be amended to include a requirement for operators to comply with any conditions placed on
the development application establishing the accommodation park.

The opportunity to vet approval applications and the discretionary power to reject them if Council is
not satisfied the operation of the accommodation park can comply with criteria laid down under the
subordinate local law, would be removed. However, the local law could be amended to require
written notification be given to Council when new operators and managers take over the operation or
management of an accommodation park. This would be in line with the negative licensing model.

Council could still issue compliance notices but the power to suspend or cancel an approval for failure
to comply with a compliance notice would be removed. However, heavier fines apply under a
negative licensing system to ensure compliance with the “rules”. The local law would need to be
amended to provide for heavier fines for non-compliance. Additionally, the local law could be