Red tape continues to choke Australian business, says ACCI

The red tape choking Australian business is getting worse, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (ACCI’s) 2013 National Red Tape Survey.

Around 70% of businesses say regulatory burdens have increased in the past 12 months, with almost a third saying they have become “much higher”, the report shows.

More than 50% of all businesses indicated that they have no capacity to pass the cost of regulation on to consumers, and fewer than 5% of businesses reported being able to pass on all the costs to consumers.

Not surprisingly, almost two-thirds of those surveyed felt that regulatory requirements have a negative impact on their businesses, and a similar proportion considered their industry to be over-regulated. The general consensus is that regulation is poorly explained by regulators, inconsistently enforced and unnecessarily strict.

“There is a clear frustration within the business community about the extent of over-regulation and the costs it is imposing. Regulation stifles business growth and chokes off the jobs that would have resulted from that growth,” said Burchell Wilson, the ACCI’s acting chief economist.

“There are also messages of despair in the survey, with businesses indicating that the relentless build-up of new regulatory obligations and constant regulatory changes were pushing them closer to the point where it would be easier to shut down their operations.

“The findings of the National Red Tape Survey demonstrate a pressing need for a targeted and disciplined deregulatory agenda. Tomorrow’s [Wednesday 25 March] Repeal Day and the government’s associated regulatory reforms are a positive step in that direction. Every opportunity needs to be taken to lift the crushing burden of red tape on business.”

The full survey is available through the ACCI website: www.acci.asn.au.