National Competition Policy

The National Competition Policy (NCP) is a set of policy reforms adopted by governments throughout Australia. The objective is to encourage a better use of the country’s resources – and hence provide a higher standard of living – through increasing competition and thus the more efficient allocation of (scarce) resources.

NCP targets the public sector, which has historically been protected from competition. But it is not about “competition for competition’s sake”. It emphasises both the importance of competition in providing better, more efficient organisations, and the need to ensure that the benefits of reforms outweigh the costs to the community as a whole.

The most important aims of NCP are:

• to develop an open and integrated Australian market for goods and services by removing unnecessary barriers to trade and competition;
• to ensure that no buyer or seller in the market is able to engage in anti-competitive conduct against the public interest;
• to ensure that, as far as possible, the same rules of market conduct apply to all market participants, regardless of the form of business ownership (government business activities should not enjoy any special advantages);
• to ensure that business activities which are potentially anti-competitive are subject to some form of assessment of the likely cost and benefits; and
• to reduce regulatory complexity and administrative duplication between various governments.

The Local Government Act 1993 includes provisions relating to NCP for local governments. Council has responded to these requirements by applying the Code of Competitive Conduct to its Cemetery Services.

Some of these business activities include a community service obligation (CSO). The value of a CSO is determined by Council and represents an activity’s cost which would not be incurred if the activity’s primary objective was to make a profit.

Council provides funding from general revenue sources to the business activity to cover the cost of providing non-commercial community services or costs deemed to be CSO’s by Council. The CSO associated with Cemetery Services include:

• Drayton & Toowoomba Cemetery - maintain historical headstone section

Council includes in the Annual Report financial details of the above business activities including CSO’s in accordance with the NCP requirements.