Regulators found wanting
The Senate has been urged to keep a register of the manner and timeliness with which Australia’s major regulatory agencies respond to questions, on the back of new data that suggests many have been found wanting.
The Rule of Law Institute of Australia (ROLIA) has called for the establishment of a compliance register in circumstances where it claims companies and individuals can be significantly punished for failing to meet the demands of regulators such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
It said that its data had identified that Australia’s regulators were finding it difficult to comply with Senate orders promptly.
“This provides little comfort to those who are subjected to regulator requests for information, which are often accompanied by inflexible deadlines and punishment for non-compliance,” the ROLIA said.
It said the problem applied to all regulators that had all missed the deadlines on at least two or three rounds of Senate Estimates hearings.
ROLIA noted, however, that the Australian Taxation Office and the Therapeutic Goods Administration had met all their deadlines in October, 2010.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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