Tell me in 2 minutes
The Government has introduced ‘omnibus’ legislation to modernise service delivery, reduce red tape and streamline how regulators interact with industry.
A key feature of the Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025 (Cth) (Bill) is the imposition of a ‘tell us once’ approach to government service delivery, meaning individuals will only have to provide or update their personal information once when accessing various Services Australia programs.
For industry, the Bill carries potential implications for providers of private health insurance, offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas operators, fuel importers, and entities regulated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
Stay tuned for a deeper dive into the detail of the Bill.
Context
On Wednesday 8 October 2025, Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced the Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025 to the House of Representatives.
The Bill is organised by four key themes:
These reforms were foreshadowed during the Government’s recent Economic Reform Roundtable and confirm the Government’s focus on streamlining national regulation across the economy.
Industry should anticipate further productivity-focused measures in the near term. In particular, the financial sector is expected to be the target of upcoming reforms directed at streamlining regulation and harmonising data collection.
Schedule 1: ‘Tell us once’ - Service delivery and information use
The Bill broadens the circumstances in which Services Australia can share information within the agency for the administration of Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support programs. In practice, individuals will no longer have to disclose or update the same information when engaging with different Services Australia programs.
The classes of information contemplated to be shared include:
- names and addresses
- bank account information
- care of child details, and
- information about a person’s vulnerabilities.
The Bill also contains a number of provisions aimed at enhancing the use and adoption of healthcare identifiers.
Schedule 2: Access to government services
This Schedule contains three measures aimed at improving the accessibility of government services:
- doubling the statutory access period for patients to utilise multiple diagnostic imaging services
- clarifying the language around eligibility for the Additional Child Care Subsidy, and
- enhancing information‑sharing among Commonwealth agencies administering Medicare payments and related functions.
Schedule 3: Regulatory burden
This Schedule expands information-sharing capabilities between the agencies and departments responsible for the regulation of offshore petroleum or greenhouse gas operations. It also permits the sharing of information, things or samples in the event of a significant offshore petroleum incident, declared oil pollution emergency, or certain serious situations relating to greenhouse gas.
Schedule 4: Efficiency, resilience and technical updates
Various amendments are proposed to the:
- Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005 (Cth)
- National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 (Cth) (NBN Companies Act), and
- Fuel Security Act 2021 (Cth).
While most of these changes are administrative in nature, the Bill also revises the Minimum Stockholding Obligation by empowering the Minister with a temporary reduction power to respond to liquid fuel supply disruptions, and amends the NBN Companies Act to refer readers to the latest national mapping data.
Next steps
The Bill is likely to be referred to a Committee for inquiry, at which point industry may make submissions. Look out for our deeper dives into some of the details of the Bill. In the meantime, please contact us if you’d like to discuss how you might be affected by these reforms.
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