It's easy to do business in Australia
Australia has one of the most transparent and efficient regulatory environments in the world. Through proactive reforms, the Australian Government has shown a strong commitment to providing businesses with the right conditions for growth and investment.
Best practice regulation
Australia's business friendly regulatory environment is undisputed. In 2006, the OECD cited Australia’s approach to regulation as a best practice benchmark for other OECD countries (Source: OECD Going for Growth, 2006).
Australia was identified as having the fewest restrictions on product markets of the 30 OECD countries, the least public ownership of business and the least restrictive impact of business regulation on economic behaviour.
Regulatory standards
In fact, with regulatory procedures taking just two days, Australia has been ranked as the third fastest place in the world to start a business (Source: The World Bank Doing Business 2009).
Businesses can invest in Australia with confidence in the security and transparency of Australia's regulatory systems. This provides predictability and certainty for business planning.
Unlike many countries in the region, there are no foreign exchange controls in Australia and the currency is fully internationalised.
Capital flows, profit remittances, capital repatriation, transfer of royalties and trade related payments remain largely free from regulation.
Transparency in government policy is considered third best in the region, and Australia's legal and regulatory framework has been rated one of the top six economies in the world for encouraging enterprise competition (Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009).
The Australian Government's commitment to continuous improvement in areas such as intellectual property (IP) reform and business immigration ensures a streamlined, business-focused regulatory environment.
Recent reforms focus on greater labour market flexibility, trade liberalisation, industry deregulation, reductions in tariff barriers and the development of a better tax system – resulting in strong productivity and enabling businesses to be highly responsive to economic conditions.
Corporate governance
Not only is government policy in tune with business imperatives, but so too is corporate governance. Australian corporate boards are ranked sixth most effective in the world and second in the region for the supervision of the management of companies (Source: Ibid).
In addition, Australia is ranked seventh in the world and second in the region, after New Zealand, for the implementation of ethical practices in companies (Source: Ibid).
Transparency
Australia has a highly professional and transparent public service, which is reflected in its rating in the top seven countries in the world (Source: Ibid).
The inherent value system in the society promotes competitiveness and has been rated fourth most supportive of business competitiveness in the world (Source: Ibid).
Intellectual property
As the knowledge economy gathers pace, a strong intellectual property framework is critical to business success. Australia ranks highly for its enforcement of intellectual property rights – second in the region and eighth globally.
In terms of adequate protection of cyber security, Australia ranks thirteenth globally and in the top four countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Source: Ibid).
For personal security and protection of private property, Australia ranks sixth globally and first in the region (Source: Ibid). |