The diverse range of legal regulations and policies of which govern the conduct of businesses within Australia can be considered as a crucial element in controlling the business environment. Laws that restrict businesses to certain boundaries are done so in order to promote fair competition and keep the business market competitive, whilst many laws act with regard to being beneficial for the sustainability of the environment. However, it can be argued that these legal regulations also bring increased costs and negative impacts within the business environment and can restrict the operating abilities of businesses. Areas where legislation is considered most controversial include the increased costs that come with abiding by legal regulation and
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Abiding by legal regulation can place immense strain and increased financial costs on businesses to adapt their operations to align with new legislation and policies in the business environment. The transitional nature of the business environment inevitably leads to the introduction of new regulations and policies to combat the new challenges faced by statutory bodies. Unfortunately for businesses, these new laws may mean that they have to develop new strategies or undergo new training and development in order to comply with these regulations and avoid facing potential sanctions. This can be increasingly costly for companies to implement and may have impacts on profitability through direct and indirect financial and administrative costs. Furthermore, this increase in costs can be particularly problematic for small businesses. Regulatory compliance exerts a disproportionately large burden on small companies because the fixed costs of adherence can be spread out over more revenues in large firms than it can in small ones. (Business Insider 2011) Nonetheless, the cost of compliance remains a problematic factor for many businesses of all sizes. This is particularly exemplified in the finance industry, as regulations have intensified following the financial crisis of 2007 (Financial Times 2015). In particular, …show more content…
The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Amending Act) brings significant impacts on the way businesses operate in regards to personal information and customer data, as statutory bodies attempt to combat challenges they face in the technological age. The legislation sets out new, more cohesive privacy protection principles and new credit reporting provisions for companies to follow. (Public Accountant, 2014) Companies that fail to operate within the legal boundaries face harsh penalties ‘including enforceable undertakings or fines of up to $1.7 million per infringement.’ (Francis 2014) These new provisions and principles are both time and resource consuming for businesses and could place pressure on those who have since found themselves to be non-compliant. Furthermore, increased powers of the Privacy Commissioner also mean firms can now be investigated as the Commissioner sees fit, even without an official complaint. (Financial Times) This is the most controversial of the new powers given under these privacy laws, as it is now ultimately up to the discretion of the commissioner to investigate possible instance’s. While this may be beneficial for protection of customer’s personal data and information, it can be argued that it unnecessarily encroaches on business
Abiding by legal regulation can place immense strain and increased financial costs on businesses to adapt their operations to align with new legislation and policies in the business environment. The transitional nature of the business environment inevitably leads to the introduction of new regulations and policies to combat the new challenges faced by statutory bodies. Unfortunately for businesses, these new laws may mean that they have to develop new strategies or undergo new training and development in order to comply with these regulations and avoid facing potential sanctions. This can be increasingly costly for companies to implement and may have impacts on profitability through direct and indirect financial and administrative costs. Furthermore, this increase in costs can be particularly problematic for small businesses. Regulatory compliance exerts a disproportionately large burden on small companies because the fixed costs of adherence can be spread out over more revenues in large firms than it can in small ones. (Business Insider 2011) Nonetheless, the cost of compliance remains a problematic factor for many businesses of all sizes. This is particularly exemplified in the finance industry, as regulations have intensified following the financial crisis of 2007 (Financial Times 2015). In particular, …show more content…
The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Amending Act) brings significant impacts on the way businesses operate in regards to personal information and customer data, as statutory bodies attempt to combat challenges they face in the technological age. The legislation sets out new, more cohesive privacy protection principles and new credit reporting provisions for companies to follow. (Public Accountant, 2014) Companies that fail to operate within the legal boundaries face harsh penalties ‘including enforceable undertakings or fines of up to $1.7 million per infringement.’ (Francis 2014) These new provisions and principles are both time and resource consuming for businesses and could place pressure on those who have since found themselves to be non-compliant. Furthermore, increased powers of the Privacy Commissioner also mean firms can now be investigated as the Commissioner sees fit, even without an official complaint. (Financial Times) This is the most controversial of the new powers given under these privacy laws, as it is now ultimately up to the discretion of the commissioner to investigate possible instance’s. While this may be beneficial for protection of customer’s personal data and information, it can be argued that it unnecessarily encroaches on business