Now lawDemocracy & Government Introduced in the House of Representatives, 08 Oct 2025

Red tape cut across more than 20 Acts at once

This 2025 law changes more than 20 laws at once. It touches people on Centrelink and Medicare, patients, couples getting married, chemists, fuel importers and pensioners.

Official name: Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025

Who it affects

• People who use Centrelink, Medicare or Child Support: A new address or bank account given to one of them can be used by the others.
• About 980,000 people owed unpaid Medicare money: Medicare can now use bank details held by Centrelink to pay them.
• Patients needing scans: They get 14 days to have all the scans on one doctor's form.
• Families using the child wellbeing child care subsidy: The words change from 'at risk of serious abuse or neglect' to 'in need of wellbeing support'.
• Couples getting married: Celebrants can accept digital ID.
• Fuel importers and refiners: The minister can lower how much fuel they must keep in stock, and they must report on more products.
• Pensioners and veterans: Several small fixes to rent help, yearly price rises, discount cards and the home equity access scheme.

Old rules make people repeat

Over time, laws pile up rules that no longer make sense. The government says some old rules slow agencies down. They also make people tell the same story again and again.

This is one bill that changes many laws at once. It came from the Finance minister's area. It has five parts.

The first four parts each have a theme. One is telling the government things once. One is keeping people able to use services. One is cutting red tape, which means needless forms and rules. One is making government work faster. The fifth part is small fixes.

Telling the government once

Services Australia is the agency that runs Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support. Child Support collects money that one parent pays the other for their children after a split. Until now, strict rules stopped Services Australia sharing much between those three.

The law lets it share more. This covers things like your name, address, bank account and whether you have a partner. It also covers your children and your life situation.

Say you change banks and tell Centrelink. Medicare can now use the new details too. You do not have to call twice.

The government's notes on the bill say about 980,000 people were owed unpaid Medicare money. It adds up to over $270 million. Medicare can now use bank details from Centrelink to pay them.

More tell us once changes

Proof that you are a citizen can now be given in digital form. People can ask for it in ways set out in detailed rules the government writes. That opens the door to asking online.

Healthcare identifiers are the ID numbers given to patients, doctors and health services. The law widens how they can be used.

Another body can be chosen to run the national list of health providers. Providers must keep their details up to date. From 1 February 2027, health tech companies can also be allowed to use the numbers for set reasons.

Someone may move from one Centrelink payment to another. Services Australia can now rely on checks it already did. It does not have to test the person again on the same rules.

Some people lose their Commonwealth Seniors Health Card, a discount card for older people. This can happen for example after a long trip overseas. Later they may be able to get it again. The card can now be given back without a new form.

Keeping access to services

One doctor's form can ask for several scans, such as an X-ray and an ultrasound. Before, all of them had to be done within 7 days. If not, the patient needed a new form. The law doubles this to 14 days.

The Additional Child Care Subsidy (child wellbeing) helps pay child care for children who need extra support. The law swaps the words 'at risk of serious abuse or neglect' for 'in need of wellbeing support'. Who can get it does not change.

The government says the old words stopped some families from asking for it. These include First Nations families, meaning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. They also include people escaping violence at home.

Some places collect blood and other samples for testing. The Health Minister can now cancel Medicare approval for such a place if it is not open to the public. The same goes if it keeps unfair hours or does not really collect samples.

Sometimes a state or territory suspends a chemist's licence. The head of the Health Department can now also stop them supplying medicines under the medicine subsidy scheme. That scheme makes many medicines cheaper.

The agencies that run Medicare, the medicine subsidy scheme and the Child Dental Benefits Scheme can share more to catch fraud and mistakes. The dental scheme helps pay for children's dental care. A review by Dr Pradeep Philip found $1.5 to $3 billion a year may be lost to people not following Medicare's rules.

Cutting red tape

Private health insurers could break the law by accident because of how Medicare amounts are rounded. The law removes that risk.

Marriage celebrants are people licensed to run weddings. They must check the ID of both people before a wedding. They can now choose to accept digital ID. Couples do not need to hunt for paper documents.

Two bodies look after oil and gas at sea. One hands out licences (the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator). The other checks safety and the environment (the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority).

They can now share more with each other and with other agencies. Companies then do not have to give the same details twice.

Faster government work

The media and phone watchdog (the Australian Communications and Media Authority) can now let senior staff make everyday decisions. Staff can also make some detailed rules. Before, more of these had to go to the full board.

The Defence Minister can now give the head of the Defence department a power. It is the power to let people enter the Woomera Prohibited Area. That is a weapons testing range in South Australia.

Two old laws are cancelled. One covers Cockatoo Island and Snapper Island in Sydney Harbour, which Defence has already handed on. The other set up the Early Years Quality Fund. It was a child care wage fund that stopped paying in 2016.

The National Broadband Network is the national internet network. The website that showed maps of where it was being built closed on 30 June 2025. The law now says the maps must be put online somewhere else. That way the public can still see where the network reaches.

Fuel security and energy

Fuel importers and refiners must keep a set amount of petrol, diesel and jet fuel in stock. The minister can now lower that amount for a time during a shortage.

Before, there were only two choices. The minister could turn the rule off fully. Or the minister could cut it one company at a time, when asked.

Diesel exhaust fluid and technical grade urea, a chemical used in that fluid, are added to the products companies must report on. Trucks need these to run. The government can also collect more details when fuel supply is under threat.

The law on energy ratings for appliances gets a new goal. It now covers how well a product uses power. That includes whether it can shift when it uses power to help the power network.

Pension and payment fixes

Rent help for some pensioners and parents is now rounded to the nearest cent.

Some payments rise each year with prices. The way this works is fixed so they rise properly after a time when prices fall. This covers some welfare and veterans' payments.

A single parent may stop getting Parenting Payment, a payment for parents caring for young children, because they earn more from work. They now keep their Pensioner Concession Card for 26 weeks. That card gives cheaper medicines and other discounts.

The home equity access scheme lets older people borrow against their home for a fortnightly income. People can now only join it once. They can join through either the welfare system or the veterans' system.

Rent help for veteran couples who both get a pension is worked out in a new way.

Pension loans scheme renamed

The 'pension loans scheme' is renamed the 'home equity access scheme' in the law. It already used that name from 1 January 2022.

Some headings are added to the Social Security Act, the main welfare law. This makes it easier to read. One rule on how work pay is counted is made clearer. It is for when someone moves from one payment to another.

Start date

This bill is now law. It was brought to the House of Representatives on 8 October 2025. The House passed it on 4 November 2025 with one government change.

The Senate passed it on 27 November 2025. The Senate is the second house of Parliament, which checks bills.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 4 December 2025. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. It is Act number 73 of 2025.

Most parts started the next day. Three parts start on 1 July 2026. They are the scan time limit, the child care words and the new fuel products to report on. The health tech company changes start on 1 February 2027.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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