{"id":"BILL-r7380","name":"Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025","slug":"regulatory-reform-omnibus-bill-2025","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":446020,"registerId":"commonwealth-BILL-r7380-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-05-05","status":"royal_assent","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[],"analysis":{"summary":{"status_summary":"The Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025 received royal assent on 4 December 2025, becoming Act No. 73 of 2025.","complexity_score":4,"likely_questions":["What is the tell us once approach to information sharing?","Which Acts are being repealed by this bill?"],"complexity_factors":["Amends thirteen Acts covering diverse topics","Includes technical amendments to regulatory settings and information sharing"],"plain_english_summary":"The Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025 makes changes to thirteen different Acts. These changes introduce a tell us once approach to support the sharing and use of information provided to various government agencies, including Services Australia. This means people may need to provide certain details only once, with the information then used across agencies where appropriate.\n\nThe bill also updates the language used for the Additional Child Care Subsidy child wellbeing payment in the A New Tax System Family Assistance Act 1999 and the related Administration Act. It amends regulatory settings around certain health care services in the Health Insurance Act 1973, National Health Act 1953 and Dental Benefits Act 2008. A rounding technicality in the Private Health Insurance Act 2007 is addressed to remove the risk of unintentional non compliance by private health insurers.\n\nMarriage celebrants are now able to accept digital forms of identity verification under the Marriage Act 1961. The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 is changed to enable petroleum and environmental regulators to share certain information. Delegation powers are expanded in the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 and the Defence Act 1903. The National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 allows NBN Co mapping data to continue to be made publicly available.\n\nAmendments to the Fuel Security Act 2012, Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act 2017 and Liquid Fuel Emergency Act 1984 enable the government to respond to potential shortages of critical fuels. The Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards Act 2012 now includes the consideration of energy performance. The Social Security Act 1991, Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 and Veterans Entitlements Act 1986 are updated for consistency in certain social security benefits and to make minor or technical amendments.\n\nThe Cockatoo and Schnapper Islands Act 1949 and the Early Years Quality Fund Special Account Act 2013 are repealed by the bill. The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives and passed both houses before receiving royal assent on 4 December 2025. It is now in force as Act No. 73 of 2025."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":9,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The Act extends beyond narrow technical regulatory‑reform measures to create significant new substantive powers and policy instruments. Examples: (1) it establishes an active data‑standard and identifier regime (Healthcare Identifiers Act Part 5AA) enabling routine, authorised re‑use and broader disclosures of healthcare and Medicare information (new ss129B, 129C, 129D, 129E etc.), which is a material policy change from mere administrative streamlining; (2) it creates enforceable fuel information‑gathering and notice powers with civil penalties (Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act ss13E–13H and Fuel Security Act s16A), moving into emergency market surveillance and intervention tools; and (3) it introduces new regulatory classes (health technology providers) and large‑scale data sharing/consent frameworks that impose compliance obligations on private digital service providers. Those provisions go beyond simple deregulatory or technical housekeeping and expand the State’s operational authority over data, market information and sector governance. The scope therefore grew from a program of cross‑cutting regulatory tweaks into substantive, new governance regimes with enduring operational impact."},"complexity_factors":["Large omnibus structure: 5 Schedules with many Parts and Divisions spanning diverse policy areas (health, social security, fuel, communications, defence, NBN, offshore petroleum).","Multiple staged commencement dates (at least 18 separate commencement items listed in s2), creating temporal complexity for implementation.","Extensive cross‑referencing and amendments across many primary Acts (Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, My Health Records Act 2012, Health Insurance Act 1973, National Health Act 1953, Dental Benefits Act 2008, Social Security Act 1991, Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act 2017, Fuel Security Act 2021, Marriage Act 1961, Private Health Insurance Act 2007, Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006, etc.).","Introduction of numerous new defined terms and classes (e.g. Healthcare Provider Directory Operator, health technology provider, permitted health technology purpose, entrusted public official), increasing interpretive load.","Creation of a data‑standards regime that is explicitly not a legislative instrument (new Part 5AA, s31AC–31AD), mixing administrative rule‑making with reduced parliamentary instrument scrutiny.","Broad authorisations for information sharing and multiple new authorised‑use sections (e.g. ss129B–129F, 130, 135ABA etc.) with layered exceptions and carve‑outs (Professional Services Review related exclusions), producing nested conditional logic.","Introduction of civil and criminal penalties across different Acts (e.g. My Health Records s59A(1A) — 1,500 penalty units; Petroleum Act civil penalties 250/300 penalty units) and continuing civil penalty features (daily rates).","Delegation and discretion changes (e.g. Secretary can delegate data‑standard functions s36F; ACMA delegation limits and new constraints on delegating legislative instrument powers) which alter administrative governance and require new internal processes.","Numerous transitional and application provisions that make amendments retroactive or apply them to information/contracts/actions before commencement (multiple application items across Schedules).","Sector‑specific operational tests (e.g. pharmacy suspension rules s94A–94B; pathology centre operational criteria) that require administrative assessment and create operational compliance thresholds."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does (mechanically)**\n\n- It is an omnibus statute that amends, and in a few cases repeals, provisions across many Commonwealth Acts to achieve a set of discrete regulatory and administrative changes. The changes are collected into five Schedules addressing: (1) a “tell us once” approach and health identifier reforms; (2) access to services and program technical fixes (childcare subsidy wording, diagnostic imaging timeframes, pharmacy approvals, Medicare integrity); (3) burden‑reduction measures (minor technical fixes, digital identity for marriage notices, offshore information sharing); (4) efficiency and productivity measures (delegation rules, NBN mapping publication, fuel security powers, energy performance); and (5) other technical and social security refinements (renaming pension loans, CPI indexation changes, home equity access rules, employment income attribution rules).\n\n- The Act: (a) authorises and clarifies new modes of information collection, use and sharing between agencies (notably across health, Medicare, Centrelink and child support systems); (b) expands or clarifies who may handle health identifiers, creates a national Healthcare Provider Directory, and creates a new statutory power for the Secretary to make data standards about clinical and health data (Part 5AA of the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010; see s31AC–31AD); (c) extends authorised disclosures of Medicare‑related information for program integrity, research and statistical purposes and creates related offences and public‑interest disclosure pathways (see insertions into the Dental Benefits Act 2008, Health Insurance Act 1973 and National Health Act 1953 — e.g. new sections such as 129B in the Health Insurance Act 1973 and 135ABA in the National Health Act 1953); (d) permits certain health technology providers (digital services) to collect/use/disclose healthcare identifiers subject to consent and permitted purposes (see new Division 2A, sections 20A–20D of the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010; staged commencement 1 February 2027 for some items); (e) creates temporary fuel‑stock reduction powers and stronger information‑gathering powers for fuel market disruption, including civil penalties (see new s16A of the Fuel Security Act 2021 and ss13E–13H of the Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act 2017); (f) makes many sector‑specific operational changes — e.g. enabling digital identity for marriage notices (Marriage Act 1961 amendment), removing a private health insurance rounding trap (Private Health Insurance Act 2007), and strengthening pharmacy approval suspension/review processes (National Health Act 1953 inserts s94A–94B).\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- Federal agencies and Ministers: gain expanded information‑sharing, delegated powers and new rule‑making authorities (e.g. Secretary powers to make data standards, Ministers’ temporary fuel reduction powers).\n\n- Health sector actors: hospitals, individual healthcare providers, pharmacists, pathology authorities, private health insurers, My Health Record participants and health technology providers. These entities face new permissions, obligations, and compliance pathways related to healthcare identifiers, the Healthcare Provider Directory, and authorised use/disclosure regimes (Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, My Health Records Act 2012, Health Insurance Act 1973, National Health Act 1953, Dental Benefits Act 2008).\n\n- Recipients of Commonwealth benefits and services: people using childcare, social security, veterans’ payments, home equity access schemes, and Medicare services — some eligibility rules and administrative processes are simplified or clarified (see Social Security Act 1991 and related amendments, and Schedule 2 changes to childcare subsidy wording).\n\n- Private sector participants in fuel and petroleum markets: given new information‑gathering notices and civil penalties (Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act 2017, ss13E–13H).\n\n- Digital/tech providers that handle health communications: newly identified and regulated as \"health technology providers\" with specified permitted purposes and consent rules (Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, new Division 2A).\n\n**Why it matters (claimed purpose and practical effects)**\n\n- Official rationale (as claimed in the Explanatory Memorandum): reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers, enable a ‘tell us once’ user experience for government services, improve program integrity (especially Medicare), increase efficiency in delegated decision‑making, protect fuel supply, and modernise technical rules (digital identity, data standards).\n\n- Testing the claim against trade‑offs and implementation mechanics:\n  - Information sharing and data standards (Healthcare Identifiers Act, new s31AC) centralise clinical data interoperability work in the Secretary’s office. That should reduce technical fragmentation, but it vests substantial rule‑making and standard‑setting power outside the parliamentary instrument process because the data standards are explicitly not legislative instruments (s31AC(6) and s31AD). This accelerates technical change but reduces formal parliamentary oversight; it increases dependence on departmental processes for consultation and approval (see s31AC(2)–(5)).\n  - Expanded authorised disclosures for Medicare and related programs (new ss129B, 129C, 129D, 129E etc. in the Health Insurance Act 1973) broaden lawful downstream uses of protected information for program integrity, research and statistical purposes, and create exceptions to prior limits on disclosure. That lowers administrative friction for inter‑agency investigations and research, but increases the volume and pathways through which personal health and payment data can be reused. The statutory text contains some limits (consent requirements for research in some contexts, and prohibitions on certain Professional Services Review disclosures), but the new regime introduces greater discretion for authorised officials and creates compliance obligations for recipients (see ss129B(2)–(5)).\n  - Health technology providers are authorised to handle identifiers only for “permitted health technology purposes” and subject to consent (new Division 2A, s20C). This opens a new class of private digital services to integrate with health systems. It creates opportunities (innovation, competition) but also risks: increased attack surface for identifiers, need for compliance systems by private tech providers, and potential liability/penalty exposures if misuse occurs.\n  - The fuel and petroleum information‑gathering powers (ss13E–13H) create enforceable notice powers and civil penalties (250–300 penalty units) to require disclosure in supply‑disruption scenarios. That improves government capacity to monitor markets but imposes disclosure and record‑keeping burdens on industry, with continuing penalties for non‑compliance (including daily continuing penalties).\n  - The Act creates several new offences and civil penalties (e.g. My Health Records new prohibition s59A(1A) with 1,500 penalty units) and anti‑disclosure provisions (various amendments across Health, Dental and National Health Acts). These strengthen deterrence but increase legal risk for practitioners and private entities handling health records.\n  - Several delegation and authorisation changes (ACMA delegation limits, Defence Act delegations to Secretary, Secretary’s delegation for data standards s36F) aim to speed operational decision‑making. They also place more substantive rule‑making judgment with senior executives and Ministers, sometimes subject to only administrative or legislative instrument‑level oversight rather than primary legislation.\n\n**Who pays, who decides, and what behaviour changes**\n\n- Who pays: compliance and IT costs will fall largely on health providers, health technology firms, pathology authorities, private fuel industry participants, and some private businesses that receive regulated Commonwealth data. Government agencies incur implementation and oversight costs (data standard publication, consultation, new functions). Individuals who interact with services may experience faster interactions (tell‑us‑once), but may bear indirect privacy risk if disclosure paths expand.\n\n- Who decides: Ministers and Secretaries obtain expanded powers (Minister may make temporary fuel reductions s16A; Secretary may make data standards s31AC and delegate functions s36F). Senior agency officials and authorised officials (entrusted public officials defined and expanded in the Health, Dental and National Health Acts) hold decision authority over disclosures and uses.\n\n- Behavioural changes expected: agencies will share more information for program integrity, researchers and authorised recipients will have clearer statutory bases for accessing Medicare and pharmaceutical data, health tech vendors will seek to integrate with identifier services under consent regimes, and fuel industry participants must be prepared to comply with urgent information notices.\n\n**Implementation risks and compliance burdens**\n\n- Staged commencement (multiple items start at different dates; some begin day after Royal Assent, others 1 Feb 2027 or 1 July 2026) creates sequencing risk for IT, provider readiness and regulation drafting.\n- Data standards are not legislative instruments and rely on departmental consultation/determinations (s31AC(6), s31AE). That lowers formal scrutiny and may create uncertainty for regulated parties until standards are published.\n- The expansion of authorised disclosure pathways increases the need for governance, secure data handling and auditing at receiving agencies and private recipients; enforcement mechanisms (civil and criminal penalties) increase legal exposure.\n- Private entities (health technology providers, regulated petroleum entities) face new registration, consent‑handling and reporting obligations; penalties for false or misleading responses to notices are significant.\n\n**Examples of concrete provisions to note**\n\n- Healthcare Provider Directory: new duties and authorisation to collect and disclose provider details (Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, substituted s31 and new ss31AA–31AF).\n- Health technology providers: new defined class and permitted actions subject to consent (Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010, new ss20A–20D; staged start 1 Feb 2027 for Division 4).\n- Data standards: Secretary may make clinical data standards; standards are not legislative instruments and must be published online (ss31AC–31AD).\n- Medicare information sharing: broad authorised uses/disclosures added to the Health Insurance Act 1973 (e.g. s129B) and related National Health Act 1953/National Health changes (e.g. s135ABA), with specified limits for research and professional review material.\n- Fuel market powers: Ministerial temporary reduction power (Fuel Security Act s16A) and Secretary’s information notices with civil penalties (Petroleum and Other Fuels Reporting Act ss13E–13H).\n\n(If you want, I can produce a one‑page checklist of immediate compliance actions for: (a) health service providers and health tech vendors; (b) Medicare‑linked organisations; and (c) fuel importers/reporting entities.)"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/regulatory-reform-omnibus-bill-2025","history":"/api/acts/regulatory-reform-omnibus-bill-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/regulatory-reform-omnibus-bill-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/regulatory-reform-omnibus-bill-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/regulatory-reform-omnibus-bill-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/regulatory-reform-omnibus-bill-2025/documents"}}