Regulator performance guide

The Australian Government replaced the 2014 Regulator Performance Framework (RPF) with the Regulator Performance Guide (RPG) from 1 July 2021. 

Regulator Performance Guide and supporting material | Deregulation (pmc.gov.au)

The RPG is part of the Government’s broader deregulation agenda which aims to reduce unnecessary or inefficient regulation. The new guide is specifically aimed to help lift the performance, capability and culture of Commonwealth regulators. It also outlines the Government's approach to setting regulator performance objectives through Ministerial Statements of Expectations.

The RPG consists of three principles of regulator best practice that all regulators are required to report against via their corporate plans and annual reports.

Regulator best practice principles

Key elements of the guide:

• The guide applies to all Commonwealth entities that perform a regulatory function
• Move to a more outcomes-focused and principles-based approach
• Entities are empowered to apply the principles of regulator best practice in a way that is appropriate to their organisation and consistent with Australian Government and stakeholder expectations
• Statements of Expectations and Intent
  • supporting Ministers and regulators prepare or refresh Ministerial Statements of Expectations which set out the Australian Government’s policy and priorities for a particular regulator’s performance and operations, and the responding Regulator Statements of Intent.
  • publicly available Ministerial Statements of Expectations and Statements of Intent also drive increased accountability, as regulators are required to report on their performance against Ministerial expectations.
• Removal of requirement for external validation of a regulator’s performance assessment
  • regulators are instead required to engage in a two-way dialogue with stakeholders on performance on an ongoing basis and reflect this feedback in performance reporting.
• The reporting of regulator performance has been brought into performance reporting obligations under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (the PGPA Act) and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 (the PGPA Rule).
  • accountability is maintained through corporate planning and performance reporting through the PGPA Act and against public Statements of Expectations by Ministers and Statements of Intent by accountable authorities.