Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

Today, the Albanese Labor Government has introduced new legislation to improve and reduce regulation, while making it easier to access government services.

This is another important step in implementing our government’s agenda to make our economy more dynamic, resilient, and productive and a direct outcome from the Economic Reform Roundtable we held earlier this year. 

The Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025 (the Bill) is about better regulation, cutting red tape, and more accessible government services. 

It will support a ‘tell us once’ approach within Services Australia, reducing the number of times Australians must provide the same information when accessing everyday services like Medicare rebates, Centrelink, and Child Support. 

One of the clear outcomes of the Economic Reform Roundtable was to fast-track the introduction of this Bill to address government inefficiencies like Australians having to repeatedly provide information to access different government services.

The Bill will also facilitate better information sharing between government agencies and regulators, delivering better outcomes for people and businesses engaging with government, including:

• Increasing information sharing between healthcare providers to ensure patients receive the highest quality care,
• Improving the regulation of Medicare to clamp down on fraudulent claims,
• Providing the public with better information about the rollout of the NBN, and
• Granting fuel companies greater flexibility to respond to fuel supply disruptions.

The Bill includes 60 measures and will amend 28 Acts, repeal two redundant Acts, and improve the operations of 13 government agencies.

This is the latest step in the substantial regulatory agenda we have been pushing forward with since the Roundtable to boost productivity, drive economic growth, and embrace the opportunities on offer from emerging technologies – while maintaining important safeguards in the system.  

We’re also working through 400 ideas to reduce regulatory burden from 38 Commonwealth regulators and have tasked the Council of Financial Regulators to de-clutter and improve regulation in the financial sector, with a priority focus on streamlining and harmonising data collection.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Finance and Government Services, Katy Gallagher:

“These are common-sense reforms from the Albanese Labor Government that will make a real difference in peoples’ lives. 

“Accessing everyday services shouldn’t be difficult or burdensome, and we’re committed to streamlining services like the Age Pension and Child Support to make them simpler and easier to access. 

“We said the Roundtable would be a springboard to deliver Labor’s agenda of making government interaction easier, both for businesses and everyday Australians.

“These proposals are straight forward, and I urge the Coalition to support the Government’s Bill to ensure Australians receive better, fairer experiences when accessing government services as soon as possible.”