Research Reports

Developing a Good Regulatory Practice Model for Environmental Regulations Impacting on Farmers

Modern environmental law dates only from the 1970s, and the design and application of market instruments to achieve environmental outcomes is also a recent development. The timeliness of this report is paramount. The Australian Farm Institute and Land & Water Australia jointly commissioned this research, led by Professor Paul Martin, University of New England, to take stock of the domestic and international literature surrounding modern environmental regulation and make informed recommendations to improve the creation and implementation of environmental regulations in Australia. This research is expected to benefit policy-makers at all levels, farmers and other natural resource managers across Australia, and others with an interest in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of Australian environmental policy.

This research report provides a detailed analysis of the regulatory process literature in order to identify opportunities to improve environmental regulatory development. It draws on lessons within Australia and overseas to present comprehensive recommendations that could be utilised by governments to ensure better environmental regulatory outcomes for farmers and the wider community. Based on their analysis, the researchers propose reform of: the fundamentals of Australia’s natural resource management system encompassing the architecture of environmental law; the way in which strategies are formulated and account for market instruments; the regulatory process; and the financing mechanisms used.
For Australian farmers, who are increasingly operating in global markets where competitor products are always less than 24 hours away, the need to retain competitiveness is acute, and the impact on competitiveness of poorly designed and implemented regulatory measures can mean the difference between success and failure. For that reason, Australian farmers and the broader agricultural sector have a very strong interest in making sure that when regulatory measures are developed, the process is such that all the potential impacts and costs are carefully considered and any negative impact on farm competitiveness is minimised.

Full Report
September 2007, pp. 1 - 104 (104 pages)
Publisher: Australian Farm Institute
Author: Martin, P, Bartel, R, Sinden, J, Gunningham, N & Hannam, I
ISBN: 978-0-9803460-5-3

$70.00