Regulatory Resources

2023: Regulatory hindsight, foresight & insight

The conference was a chance for regulators from across sectors and jurisdictions to think about the future of the profession and reflect on the stresses and rewards of regulation. It explored issues including regulatory failure, regulatory levers and tools, the role of investigative journalism, and regulating behind closed doors.

The theme for the 2023 forum was “Regulatory hindsight, foresight & insight” with keynote address by Professor Malcolm Sparrow and Adele Ferguson.

Read more about the NRCoP Conference below on the following articles.

NRCoP Conference 2023: What causes regulatory failures and why is it vital to learn from near misses?

Malcolm Sparrow tells NRCoP Conference how to be a problem-centric regulator

Regulatory hindsight, foresight and insight: NRCoP Conference debates key issues facing regulators

“A truly fantastic couple of days”

Watch the Conference highlights reel and videos of recorded sessions by clicking on the session title.

NRCoP National Conference 2023 Highlights Reel

Day One – 21 September 2023

Welcome to the NRCoP National Conference 2023

Maria Katsonis

Session 1: Panel: What I wish I knew on my first day

Maria Katsonis, Rose Webb, Simon Corden, Tricia Stroud, Robert Hortle

Session 2: Panel: Regulatory failure and remediation

Tracy Mackey, Grant Barnes, Natasha Mann, Bronwyn Weir

Session 3: Keynote: The role of investigative journalism in shaping regulatory reform

Professor Allan Fels AO, Maria Katsonis, Adele Ferguson

Day Two – 22 September 2023

Introduction Day 2

Maria Katsonis

Session 1: Panel: Exploring ‘near misses’ reflecting on past behaviours as a way of improving regulatory practice. Lessons for all regulators.

Dr Christopher Walker, Dr Jonathan Aleck, Jane Eldridge, Jodi Goodall

Session 3: Panel: Regulating behind closed doors: Making the invisible visible

Maria Katsonis, Professor Valerie Braithwaite, Professor John Braithwaite, Meena Singh, Simon Katterl

Session 4: Fireside Chat 1: Regulating behind closed doors

Jarrod Cowley–Grimmond, Professor Valerie Braithwaite, Professor John Braithwaite

Session 4: Fireside Chat 2: Indigenous Governance, Voice and Treaty

Professor Veronica Taylor, Tricia Stroud 

Session 4: Fireside Chat 3: Are our regulators up to the task?

Adam Fennessy PSM, Graeme Samuel AC, Sarah Court

Session 5: Fireside Chat: Leadership & ethical challenges

Professor Allan Fels AO, Professor Malcolm Sparrow, Christine Nixon AO APM

Corporate Member Showcase Winning Posters & Conference Closing Remarks

Rose Webb, Chair, Dr Marion Frere, Maria Katsonis

We are pleased to present the evaluations of The Professional Regulator program inaugural cohort (representatives from 100 corporate members, at no cost, from February 2023) and open cohort (fee-paying participants from July 2023).

The program has been a great success with 908 regulators having commenced or completed The Professional Regulator program by the end of January 2024. There are a further several hundred participants commencing over the next couple of months.

Click the links below to view the evaluation results from The Professional Regulator inaugural and open cohorts.

Inaugural Cohort Evaluation Summary

Open Cohort Evaluation Summary

Third annual report to corporate members – 1 July 2022-30 June 2023

Download report

(accessible version)

Second annual report to corporate members – 1 July 2021-30 June 2022

Download report

(accessible version)

NRCoP 3-Year Plan

Download PDF

(accessible version)

NRCoP annual report to corporate members – July 2020-June 2021

Download report

(accessible version)

6-month corporate report – December 2020

Download report

(accessible version)

12-month corporate report (1st edition) – 1 July 2020-30 June 2021

Download report

(accessible version)

NRCoP yearly survey of members (survey results write up) – 2021

View survey results

Professional Development Training for Regulators

Read the report

(Accessible version)

• NRCoP and ANZSOG present: The public value of regulation and why it matters

• NRCoP, ANZSOG and AELERT present: What does it mean to be a regulator in local government?

• Body Worn Cameras in the Regulator Space – 5 December 2023

• Navigating Regulatory Landscapes – 20 November 2023

• Holding the Regulatory Line – 4 August 2023

• Regulators as Raters – 31 July 2023

• Incentivising compliance: using behavioural insights to encourage and persuade – 2 June 2023

• Data, data everywhere: Challenges, lessons and opportunities for regulators – 15 May 2023

• AI and ChatGPT: The latest fad, a useful tool, or something more nefarious? – 20 April 2023

• Are we OK? Co-design and the regulation of psycho-social hazards – 20 March 2023

• Indigenous knowledge, partnerships and shared decision making – 1 March 2023

• COVID-19: Legitimacy, Trust and Compliance – 14 December 2022

• Having your say vs getting your way? Why good regulatory comms matter – 15 November 2022

• Guilty Corporate Minds: old and new approaches to regulating corporate (mis) conduct – 25 October 2022

• Solving problems, supporting staff! Building an effective complaints handling culture – 21 September 2022

• What is culturally responsive regulation and how do we work with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partners to achieve it? – 24 August 2022

• Telling their story once: How digital technology can support regulators to provide streamlined services to citizens and businesses – 26 July 2022

• Lessons for regulators from the Perth Casino Royal Commission – 22 July 2022

• Setting regulatory practice at the speed of a pandemic – 21 June 2022

• Regulation and the Creation of Public Value: Exploring the Four Ps – 20 May 2022

• From Cairns to Margaret River (and everywhere in between): Regulating in the Regions – 13 April 2022

• Emerging regulatory trends and the role of regulation in preventing and responding to sexual harassment and sexual assault – 17 March 2022

• OECD: Agile Regulation and Innovation – 10 March 2022

• Compliance Planning – So much to do, so little time (and money): how do regulators allocate scarce resources? – 22 February 2022

• Professional Development training for regulators: what can the Aussies learn from the Kiwi experience? – 8 December 2021

• The Challenge of leading a regulator – 24 November 2021

• RegTech: the good, the bad and the seriously scary – 19 August 2021

• Learning from success? Doing safety differently – 21 July 2021

• Is regulatory failure a good teacher? – 15 July 2021

• Complain, complain, complain: how complaints can (and should) change regulatory practice – 22 June 2021

• Regulatory stewardship: why and how the Kiwis manage regulation as an asset – 26 May 2021

• Taking a new look at old tools:  registering, licensing, permitting, accrediting, certifying and so many more – 13 May 2021

• The struggle to regulate integrity: money and politics – 21 April 2021

• ‘Regulatory capability’: what does it mean and how do we acquire it? – 23 March 2021

• Learning to be virtual regulators: inspection and compliance in the age of COVID – 4 March 2021

• Telling our story to the community: why good Comms matter – 11 February 2021

• Regulatory frameworks – 28 January 2021

• Regulating unreason – 15 December 2020

• Consumers and markets in the digital age: the ACCC and the platforms – 1 December 2020

• Using behavioural science at the bad end of town – 17 November 2020

• Fundamentals of regulatory design – 27 October 2020

• Defining and measuring our public value – 13 October 2020

• One space, many regulators – 8 September 2020

• Regulation, trust and social licence – 11 August 2020

• Bias by design: When the design, implementation and enforcement of rules creates disadvantage – 28 July 2020

• Inside/outside: The pros and cons of the independent versus the departmental regulator, and does it matter? – 14 July 2020

• What would culturally responsive regulation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations look like? – 30 June 2020

• RegX: Achieving regulatory excellence – 16 June 2020

• How do we know we’re good at what we do?: Measuring regulatory performance – 2 June 2020

• Why do people comply? COVID-19 compliance behaviours in international and local perspective – 26 May 2020

• Regulating the professions: What could possibly go wrong? – 19 May 2020

• Learning to be better regulators: The G-Reg journey – 5 May 2020

• Regulating at the border – 21 April 2020

• Regulating the Population – 7 April 2020

Read the NRCoP six-monthly report to corporate members – December 2020

Download Report

(accessible version)

Facilitated conversation

Regulatory Laggards – 20 October

• Facilitator: Adam Beaumont
• Co-facilitator: Alice Turnbull
• Co-facilitator: Dr. Grant Pink

Read the recap

Compliance in a crisis – 22 September

• Facilitator: Adam Beaumont
• Co-facilitator: Alice Turnbull
• Co-facilitator: Dr. Grant Pink

Read the recap

Windows of opportunity – 25 August 2020

• Facilitator: Adam Beaumont
• Co-facilitator: Alice Turnbull
• Co-facilitator: Dr. Grant Pink

Read the recap

2019: The Intelligent Regulator

Regulators across the world are facing growing demands for action in complex and volatile domains combined with shrinking resources, but help is at hand: many are using technology-driven regulation to break the cycle and tackle the increasingly global challenges they face.

The theme for the 2019 forum was “The Intelligent Regulator” with keynote address by William Eggers.

Read more

Watch The Intelligent Regulator here:

2018: Regulating workplace culture

If the definition of workplace culture is how staff behave when no one is looking, 2018 may well go down in regulatory history as the year we collectively started looking – and were scandalised by what we found.

How can regulators change workplace culture?

Including a keynote address by Dr Femke de Vries.

Read more

View photos from the Forum:

2017: Shifting Sands – Regulating the future

How can regulators predict the future and adapt to new technologies and the rise of an informed and connected citizenry.

Find presentations from the day along with the Background paper, provided by Dr Steven Manos, and the link to Professor Alberto Alemanno’s live stream session.

2016: Regulatory excellence

You can view Professor Cary Coglianese‘s presentation

Regulatory excellence: A framework for quality improvement

TBC

• Hanzo van Beusekom – 29 April 2014 – Why Regulation is Hard
• Julia Black – 25 March 2014 – Learning from Regulatory Failures
• Sam Abusah – March 2014 – Best Practice Statutory Approvals
• Deborah Cope – 14 August 2014 – Tackling risk-based regulation
• Gary Banks – 21 October 2015 – Outside looking in: Australian regulation in OECD context
• James Alm – 2015 –  What Motivates Tax Compliance
• Graeme Auld – 10 March 2016 – Private Governance
• Karen Yeung – 8 April 2016 – Regulation by design
• VGSO / ANZSOG Panel Session with Simon Cohen, Noel Cleaves and Andrew Edwards – 9 April 2018 – ‘Hang one, educate one thousand’: can regulatory prosecutions drive change?
• Bronwyn Weir – 7 September 2018 (Melbourne) –‘Building confidence’: learnings for regulators from the Shergold-Weir report
• Liam Smith – 27 September 2018 (Perth) – So, do you need to change people’s behaviour in order to achieve your desired regulatory outcomes?
• Sid Wellik – 2018 – Regulatory Stewardship: What is it? How has it been implemented? How is it working in practice?
• Dr Grant Pink – 2018 – Regulatory Professionals: Do they exist? How would we know? Why should we care?
• Peter Gahan – 2019 (New Zealand) – Regulating workplaces of the future: Challenges and prospects
• Zeger van der Wal and Elizabeth Tydd – 2019 – Integrity 2025 – Regulating emerging and future integrity issues
• Graeme Samuel AC and Chris Ingham – 2019 – From capture to co-design: the regulator/regulated relationship
• Dr Claire Noone – 2019 – Regulatory Excellence – aligning an integrated operating model with regulatory purpose
• Professor Arie Freiberg – 2019 – We’re all regulators: Why and how to think broadly about regulation?
• Mark Steel – 2019 – Regulatory Start ups, amalgamations and transformations: Learning from others