The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has determined that there is a need to ensure that, where new standards are considered, they are subject to sufficient scrutiny to guard against the imposition of unnecessary regulation. It is also important to ensure that new standards do not impose excessive requirements on business.
COAG has determined that the aim of any national standards setting process should be to achieve minimum necessary standards, taking into account economic, environmental, health and safety concerns.
Although this document was published under the previous Government, it is intended as a factual document.