The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) today released an interim paper recommending a new approach to evaluating the performance of the State Government’s assistance to industry.
“Like other States, Queensland assists industries through measures such as grants, tax concessions and subsidised goods and services. The State government has asked the QCA to evaluate the impact of this assistance on Queensland’s economy and productivity,” said QCA Chairman Malcolm Roberts.
“Today, the QCA is releasing for comment a performance assessment framework which can be used to test whether individual assistance measures are necessary and are being delivered effectively.
“The framework uses a sequence of tests to assess an assistance measure. The first test is the most important, namely whether there is a real need for government action. In most cases, satisfying this test will require two things – clear evidence of a significant, ongoing market failure and sound reasons to expect that government intervention can address that failure to deliver a net benefit to the community.
“The framework also proposes ways to assess whether measures are cost-effective in achieving their objectives. The QCA’s proposals take into account the performance indicators already being used as part of Queensland’s Performance Management Framework.
“The QCA will soon publish a catalogue of Queensland’s industry assistance measures. For the first time, Queenslanders will have an accessible, comprehensive listing of all the assistance measures offered by the State government.
“Queenslanders will then be invited to contribute their views on the performance of any of these measures,” said Malcolm Roberts.
For a chance to have your say, register for our email alerts on our website: www.qca.org.au/Subscribe
A final report will be submitted to the Queensland Government by 30 June 2015.