ASIC decisions, policies and approaches will be easier to find and simpler to understand from 5 July 2007 following the launch of new regulatory documents and a road map on the agency’s website.

Fewer types of regulatory documents

From 5 July 2007, there will only be four types of regulatory documents. Regulatory guides will replace approximately 14 types of documents including policy statements, practice notes, guides, kits, information releases and frequently asked questions previously issued. The other three types of documents will be: consultation papers, reports and information sheets. Legal documents such as class orders, instruments and forms are unchanged.

This rationalisation is part of ASIC’s Better Regulation initiatives developed to achieve better and more transparent regulation.

‘We are continuing to make our regulation easier to understand, and our publications clearer and easier to find’, said ASIC’s Executive Director of Regulation, Mr Malcolm Rodgers.

More accessible documents

ASIC has made it easier to find and understand information about its thinking on regulatory topics by developing and user testing new and simpler document layouts and templates.

From 5 July, new and updated documents will be issued in the new templates which feature:

• a short summary of what the document is about and who it is for on the front cover, and
• a summary of key points at the beginning of each new section. Larger documents will start with an overview that summarises the contents.

Road map

Another initiative is a road map to help people find relevant class orders and regulatory documents on ASIC’s website. The regulatory road map is a subject matter index that links to regulatory documents and class orders on both general and specific topics.

Further details about these initiatives and the impact of these changes on existing documents, can be found in ASIC – A guide to our regulatory documents. For a copy of this publication, please visit the ASIC website at www.asic.gov.au/betterregulation.

Download a copy of ASIC: A guide to our regulatory documents.