Best Practice Regulation: A guide for ministerial councils and national standard setting bodies (October 2007) provides guidance to Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Ministerial Councils and other national standard setting bodies on best-practice regulation making. It outlines the principles for best-practice regulation making agreed by COAG, provides guidance for undertaking regulatory impact assessment and preparing a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), and explains the role...

The Government is refocusing industry policy to drive entrepreneurship and innovation. Industry policies will be re-targeted to capitalise on Australia's strengths and accelerate the growth prospects of our high-potential small and medium sized enterprises and most promising sectors. The Government will facilitate winning strategies by businesses that spend their own money and take their own risks.

Business relevant, high-quality education and training boosts innovation, encourages investment and supports jobs growth. The Government aims to create a world’s best practice higher education and Vocational Education and Training (VET) system that provide the skills for jobs of the future.

Highly skilled migrants are critical for a strong and vibrant economy, bringing know-how, innovation and entrepreneurship and also helping to plug short-term skills gaps. As part of the Competitiveness Agenda, the Government is taking further action to facilitate skilled migration, through reforms to elements of both the temporary and permanent migration programmes, while maintaining protections to ensure that businesses do not bring in foreign workers where Australians are able to do the job.