Office of Best Practice Regulation
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) promotes the Government’s objective of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation.
Regulations are essential for the proper functioning of society and the economy. The challenge for government is to deliver effective and efficient regulation — regulation that is effective in addressing an identified problem and efficient in terms of maximising the benefits to the economy, taking account of the costs. While much regulation is necessary and beneficial, there are cases where this may not be so or where regulations could be better designed — hence the rationale for the best practice regulation process.
About the OBPR
The OBPR plays a central role in assisting Australian Government departments and agencies to meet the Australian Government’s requirements for best practice regulatory impact analysis and in monitoring and reporting on their performance.
The OBPR also serves a similar role for the Council of Australian Governments — COAG’s requirements — in relation to national regulatory proposals considered by ministerial councils, national standard‑setting bodies or COAG itself.
As part of the OBPR’s coaching and training role, policy officers are strongly encouraged to contact the OBPR early in the policy development process to ensure that the Australian Government’s or COAG’s requirements for best practice regulation are met.
The OBPR is a division within the Department of Finance and Deregulation but has independence [
] from the Department and portfolio Ministers in assessing and reporting on compliance with the best practice regulation requirements.
The best practice regulation processes administered by the OBPR compliment other initiatives being undertaken as part of The Deregulation Agenda.
Contact for information on this page: OBPR contacts page