2017-11-07 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA   7 NOVEMBER 2017




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SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                               7 NOVEMBER 2017

                                                                   Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning
                  1.     Introduction
                 In April 1995, all Australian governments committed to the National Competition Policy
                 to establish a national approach to achieve greater economic efficiency and to improve
                 the overall competitiveness of the Australian economy.
                 One of the key principles of the National Competition Policy was a commitment that all
                 governments, including local governments, would not make laws that restricted
                 competition unless it could be demonstrated that:
                         -  the benefits of the restriction to the community as a whole outweighed the
                            costs, and
                         -  the objectives of the law could only be achieved by restricting competition.
                 To give effect to this principle, governments agreed to review all laws that restrict
                 competition.
                 Under the agreement, the Queensland Government requires local governments to
                 review anti-competitive provisions in any proposed local laws before the laws are
                 adopted.
                 These guidelines set out the criteria for identifying possible anti-competitive provisions
                 in local laws and establish the process for conducting reviews of those provisions.
                 Local governments are required to comply with these guidelines when making local
                 laws and failing to do so may result in the local law being of no effect.

                 These consolidated guidelines replace the separate identification and review guidelines
                 published by the Department in 1997.

                 National Competition Policy - Guidelines for conducting reviews on anti-           -1-
                 competitive provisions in local laws

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