Australia has thousands of industrial standards and there are potential annual savings worth billions of dollars from simplification and harmonisation, the Productivity Commission has found.
Thousands of standards
There are 7,519 Australian standards, of which 893 are incorporated in legislation. Of the Incorporated Standards, only 22% are identical to international standards. The rest are either modified, not based on an international standard, or have not equivalent international standard.
The Productivity Commission found that aligning domestic and international standards promotes trade, although the magnitude of effects with vary. Higher trade volumes increases product diversity, lifts consumer welfare, and national income.
Incidentally, many references in legislation to standards, around 1,403 references, are to standards that are now superseded, obsolete or withdrawn.
Economic benefits
There are potentially huge benefits from harmonising Australian regulated standards with international or overseas standards.
Even a small alignment, of about 190 Australian standards, could produce a total benefit of AUD$1.9 billion to AUD$3.8 billion a year, although further research is needed.
The Productivity Commission noted that a range of inconsistencies can create trade barriers, for example Australian life jacket standards are not equivalent to the international standard. The Productivity Commission quoted Shipping Australia’s submission that that there is a high cost caused when international trading vessels are turned away by State authorities on biosecurity grounds despite ships meeting global biosecurity rules and receiving Australian Federal clearance to enter Australia.
The Productivity Commission added that “the implementation of standards across Australia, whether aligned with international standards or not, is a mess”, noting that there is great variety in how standards are referenced and implemented across Australia.
The Productivity Commission referred to a submission by the Australian Logistics Council which described the framework for freight vehicles as “a patchwork,” and that creates operational inefficiencies, particularly at jurisdictional boundaries, affecting ports, intermodal terminals, and rail hubs.
Background
Australia’s Federal Treasurer, the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP, requested advice on 27 March 2025 from the Productivity Commission on how to support continued pro-competitive reform under the National Competition Policy. The request for advice specifically focused on occupational licensing and adopting international and overseas standards.
There were a range of other findings, measures, and recommendations. Here, however, we have focused on the broadest and high-level findings and on aspects that are more directly related to trade and logistics.
Further reading
Interim Report of the National Competition Policy Analysis 2025, Productivity Commission (Australian Government), August 2025.
