By Regulation is about Policy, Practice, Professionalism and Performance… just not for the Australian shooting industry.
Again, it appears the Australian shooting industry misses out and is ignored, expected to suffer through poorly drafted regulation enforced by regulators who are yet to embrace best practice.
These same regulators also appear to be focused on a constant and unevidenced tightening of regulation rather than looking for regulatory efficiencies that would benefit and grow our industry.
As a peak industry body responsible for the development of a highly regulated Australian industry, one of our key goals is to ensure that SIFA develops a credible understanding on how our regulators go about the business of regulating.
Following our recent attendance at the IPAA Regulatory Reform Conference, SIFA jumped at the opportunity to attend the Regulation and the Creation of Public Value conference hosted by the ANZSOG. This event also doubled as the launch of the ACT Chapter of the National Regulators Community of Practice.
We were surprised that were the only representatives of a regulated industry to attend this event. We did so openly, seeking information on good regulatory practice experienced by other industries so that we could highlight the lack of professionalism taken by our regulators, and it must be said that we were very well received.
The launch included a facilitated discussion on the 4P’s of regulation (Policy, Practice, Professionalism and Performance), as well as addressing several topics relevant to regulating our industry including:
- Regulation being a key function of government that contributes to better citizen outcomes.
- How the multiple layers of regulatory activity work together to create public value.
- How regulatory policy intersects with regulatory performance.
- The relationship between regulatory practice and the professionalisation of regulators.
This event enabled SIFA to gain further valuable insights into the way that the job of regulation is being approached across other industries, allowing us to bring those insights to the table whenever we meet with politicians or bureaucrats.
SIFA has long held the view that the oversight of this industry is undertaken through the lens of law enforcement, not through the lens of regulation. There are logical consequences of this, many of which place unnecessary burdens upon what are heavily regulated and highly compliant businesses.
Our industry is paying a heavy price due to poor quality regulation, and we want it fixed! This has been documented by the Auditor Generals Offices of WA, NSW and QLD, who have produced several scathing reports that have highlighted the ineffectual and inadequate regulation of our industry.
SIFA is putting regulators on notice that our industry expects efficient and effective regulation, and we will no longer just accept second best. We will continue to hold governments to account as we argue for good Policy, best Practice regulation, a high standard of Professionalism from those who regulate us and for the Performance of our regulators to be objectively assessed and measured.
The video of the forum can be found here Regulation and the Creation of Public Value: Exploring the Four Ps – YouTube
