Australia has greatly benefited from past competition policy reforms – but, in recent years, reform efforts have stalled. 

This report assesses the economic impact of 26 proposed reforms identified by the Australian, state and territory governments through the Council for Federal Financial Relations. It found a new round of National Competition Policy reforms could boost GDP by an estimated $26–45 billion in 2023-24 dollars (or by 1.0–1.7% of GDP).

The reforms modelled spanned five themes:

1. dynamic business environment; 
2. net zero; 
3. labour mobility; 
4. human services; and 
5. data and digital.

Key findings

• Overall, the proposed reforms will be good for Australians, with the boost to GDP supplemented by other benefits such as improvements in consumer access and welfare, and contributions towards Australia’s emission reductions.
• In the long run, the proposed reforms would ease cost of living pressures, reducing prices by an estimated 0.7–1.5%, but the effect of individual reforms is mixed. That said, short run price effects could differ, so some reforms may ease cost of living pressures in the short run, even if they do not in the long run.
• The proposed reforms would increase net government revenues in the long run. For the Australian Government, net revenues would be an estimated $5.7–9.2 billion higher. For state and territory governments as a whole, net revenues would be an estimated $2.4 billion higher overall.
• For many reforms, getting the scope and implementation right will be key. Particular caution should be taken for the reforms about consumer switching, data sharing, information provision in human services and efficient user charging.