Two Cheers for Prescription? Lessons for the Red Tape Reduction Agenda

Abstract

The Australian Federal Government’s red tape reduction strategies and comparable initiatives to reduce regulatory burdens at state level (exemplified by Queensland’s claim to be ‘aggressively tackling overregulation’) have prompted renewed focus on the role of regulation. In particular, this paper examines what type of regulation should most appropriately be invoked to address various economic and social challenges ‘[i]n every facet of life, from aged care to agriculture, schools to small business, visas to veterans’? Further, this paper will explore whether is it possible to substantially reduce the volume of such regulation without threatening the very social purposes that legislation was developed to protect.

Keywords: Government policy, risk regulation and policy, red tape reduction

JEL Classification: K23, Q48