Six key reform initiatives were put forward last week, including agreements to reform skills and streamlining environmental assessments between the federal and state governments.

It also suggested refining the efficiency of approvals for major development projects, lifting regulatory performance to lower the cost to business and removing unnecessary carbon reduction initiatives.

The paper was prepared for the COAG business advisory forum by the Business Council of Australia in consultation with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Another key reform related to a new national skills reform package which, according to ABC Online, would be worth $A1.75 billion.

The package struck between the federal government and the state and territory governments, will give TAFE students access to the HECS-style loans university students have access to.

The package should deliver 375,000 additional training places which will be available over the next five years.

Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd said COAG should be congratulated on the agreement to create a national skills reform package.

He also said the federal government’s decision to eliminate double handling in environmental assessments was a huge win for the economy.

“Streamlining environmental assessments and approvals is all about reducing the costs of double handling and unnecessary delays on business and not about reducing environmental protections,” Shepherd said.

“This will have a massive positive impact on reducing the cost and time issues associated with investing in and delivering major projects, which in turn will contribute to making Australia much more competitive.”

Speaking at the conclusion of COAG, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia needed a higher skilled workforce in order to build a strong economy in the future.



“We will move to a system based on entitlement, so that an adult Australian who lacks a Certificate III qualification can get a training place to get one and that is the first qualification that makes a real difference to people’s employability and their earnings,” Gillard said.

“[Under the agreement] people who are getting higher level vocational skills will get the same deal that university students do.

“Instead of having to pay upfront, at a time when they mightn’t be earning much, they will be able to pay later, when they are earning more as a result of their qualification.

“I’d particularly like to thank premiers and chief ministers for working with me to ensure that we can get to a new system, which will still give us the best possible environmental protection, but cut out the double handling and time delays that can prevent important projects getting off the ground.”

COAG also agreed to refer the benchmarking of major project assessment processes against international best practices to the federal Treasury for a potential inquiry by the Productivity Commission.

Shepherd said the BCA supported a productivity inquiry into construction costs and processes for approving major projects.