More competition on the table in education, health and disability care
|
Version 0 of 1. More private-sector competition in education, health and disability care, and fewer restrictions on pharmacies, taxi operators and the release of land for development are among the sweeping issues to be considered by the Abbott government’s competition review. When the terms of reference were unveiled earlier this month the scope of the review of competition laws was described as “sprawling”, but just how wide has become clear with the release of an issues paper to help shape public consultation and comment. The paper asks whether there could be a public benefit in “encouraging greater competition and choice in sectors with substantial government participation (including education, health and disability care and support)”. Asked to provide examples of what might be considered, the review chair, Prof Ian Harper, nominated to Guardian Australia funding rules covering accident and emergency services and research funding to universities. “States are funded to deliver accident and emergency services in a way that gives public hospitals an incentive to demand to know whether you are privately insured and then treat you while charging the private insurer for the service,” he said. “A more level playing field might give the private sector more access to emergency rooms, perhaps by removing the prohibition of private insurance covering emergency care. “Private tertiary institutions are currently blocked from applying for government research funds, which clearly puts them at a disadvantage.” Harper emphasised no decisions had been taken, and said: “There may be good reasons for these practices to continue, but we want to hear the argument because we want to tackle the issues the first competition review did not, and unleash another wave of competition reforms to drive Australia’s productivity growth.” The review also asks whether there should be a second push for reform in areas opened for competition after the first competition review commissioned by the Keating government and overseen by professor Fred Hilmer in the 1990s – including in the markets for water, energy, transport and telecommunications. “Unfinished business” on energy reforms could include a plan to remove price restrictions in some states, like Queensland, roll out smart meters across the country to extend the practice of charging different rates at times of high power demand – which could mean informed consumers pay less but unwary consumers could pay much more for their electricity needs. Also in the review’s sights is “international price discrimination” and geo-blocking by companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Amazon, which, according to a recent parliamentary inquiry, means Australian can sometimes pay between 50% and 100% more for a product than those buying it overseas. The review notes that the Canadian government recently announced it would legislate against country-specific price discrimination faced by Canadian consumers. It will also re-open the bitter debate about restrictions on book imports, after the former Labor government decided Australian publishers should retain a window to publish a local edition of a foreign book, during which the foreign edition cannot be imported. It will also consider the divisive restrictions on the taxi industry and the practice of auctioning a restricted number of taxi licences, as well as the controversial rules under which the pharmacy industry and the government agree on how many pharmacies there should be, where they can be located and who can operate them. The review will also consider the environmental exemption from a ban on so-called secondary boycotts. The Tasmanian government and a Coalition senator from Tasmania have been calling for the removal of the exemption as a way to combat environmental campaigns seeking to prevent companies buying from certain providers on the grounds that they supply unsustainably produced timber or seafood. Industry codes are also in the spotlight, for example the code governing franchising, the oil code which underpins petrol supply and retailing, and the “unit price” code which requires supermarkets to display what a product costs per measure of volume or weight to allow consumers to make comparisons more easily. Land use restrictions will also be considered, including planning restrictions, zoning laws and development assessment procedures, to decide whether there are valid environmental or planning reasons for them or whether they just push up costs. The last review led to the development of the national competition policy and the setting up of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Its former chairman, Prof Allan Fels, has described this second review as “vast and possibly unmanageable”. It is due to report within 12 months. |