Now lawBusiness & Trade Introduced in the House of Representatives, 13 May 2026

Clean-up law trims business paperwork across 26 Acts

This 2026 law changes 26 laws in one go. It touches trade mark owners, importers, plant breeders and big employers. It also touches pensioners living overseas, former Defence Force members and people dealing with Centrelink.

Official name: Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Businesses that use trade marks, patents or plant breeder's rights: These protect brands, inventions and new types of plants. Rules on legal costs, attorneys, renewal fees and world product groups are updated.
• Importers: Some refunds and let-offs from import tax come faster.
• Employers that report on gender equality: They get a 12-month gap between rounds of targets. Reporting by government employers moves to start on 1 April.
• People named in a human rights complaint who are not the one being complained about: The Australian Human Rights Commission, the national human rights body, no longer has to tell them.
• Pensioners aged 80 or over living overseas: Checks that they are still alive get more flexible.
• Former Defence Force members: They can use a lump sum to open a retirement income account with the government's super fund manager.

More red tape to cut

In 2025, Parliament passed the Regulatory Reform Omnibus Act 2025. It changed many laws at once to cut red tape, meaning needless rules and forms. It also let government agencies share information. This 2026 law is the follow-up.

It is one bill that changes many laws. It changes 26 laws and scraps two. It came from the Finance minister's area.

The government says the goal is rules that protect people without wasting their time. The law has four parts.

Trade marks, patents and plants

A trade mark is a name or logo a business owns, like a brand. Sometimes two sides fight over one before the government office that keeps the list of trade marks.

The legal costs are usually set on a fixed scale. The government can now write rules to allow higher costs when one side acts unfairly and runs up the other side's bill.

Patent and trade mark attorneys are experts who help people protect their ideas and brands. Some could escape a complaint by dropping off the official list and then signing up again.

Now a complaint can go on even after an attorney drops off the list. The rules can also make it harder for people who were disciplined to sign up again.

Plant Breeder's Rights protect new types of plants, a bit like a patent protects an invention. Owners now get extra time to pay renewal fees. They also get an easier way to give up their rights. This starts 12 months after the law was signed.

Australia's trade mark law now follows two deals between countries as they change. One lets a business register a mark in many countries at once. The other sorts goods and services into groups.

This saves updating the rules every time those deals change. It starts 6 months after the law was signed.

Importers, TV and equality reports

Dumping is when goods from overseas are sold here below a fair price. There is an extra import tax on dumped goods.

Some importers ask for part of that tax back. If the first decision goes against them, they had to wait 30 days for the time to appeal to end.

They can now say they will not appeal. Then the matter is settled sooner.

Some TV services must spend money on new Australian drama and report on it. They now report by calendar year, January to December, in place of the July to June year. That matches the other rules on Australian shows.

Big employers set targets for fair treatment of women and men at work. They do this through the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

Right now they must pick new targets at the same time as they report on the old ones. From 1 January 2027 there is a 12-month gap. So they can look at their results first.

Government employers will report on a year that starts on 1 April, the same as private employers. Then the agency can compare the two in one report.

Old laws and reports repealed

The Superannuation Benefits (Supervisory Mechanisms) Act 1990 is scrapped. It covered super schemes run by government bodies such as Australia Post. Those schemes have since joined others.

The Commonwealth Funds Management Limited Act 1990 is scrapped too. It set up a company that invested public servants' super. That company was sold and closed long ago.

Government agencies used to report every payment to firms that do ads, polls and market research. They did this under election law. They no longer have to.

The government says they already report their ad campaigns under other rules.

Human rights complaints

Someone can complain to the Australian Human Rights Commission about unfair treatment. The complaint might name a person who is not the one being complained about.

Until now, the head of the commission had to tell that person what was said about them. That person could not formally reply, and nothing legal would happen to them.

The government says the letter caused confusion and worry. That duty is now gone.

The government checked the law against human rights. That check says this touches on the right to a fair process and to a good name. It says protections remain.

Foreign money and Centrelink couples

Family payments, child support and other welfare sometimes need to turn foreign money into Australian dollars. The law makes this simpler.

It removes an old exchange rate from the Commonwealth Bank that no longer exists. This starts 3 months after the law was signed.

Centrelink must decide if an unmarried person is part of a couple. This is called a de facto couple, and it changes how much they are paid.

The law makes clear the department must look at every part of the relationship. It must also check if the two people are living apart for good, or with no end date.

The government says this lines up the tests for unmarried couples with the tests for married couples.

Telling the government once

Some goods can come in without the normal import tax under a special order. This is often because no Australian business makes them.

Those goods are now free of the extra dumping tax too, with no new decision needed. This does not apply if the minister finds it would hold back a new Australian industry.

Every patient has a health ID number. The service that runs these numbers can now tell a doctor or health body when a patient died. Then they can close the patient's records without paying to find out the date somewhere else.

Bodies that run health services can share health ID details with their staff and contractors. That matches the rule for doctors.

Some people deal with Centrelink for someone else. Those helpers can now quit by telling the government in more ways than writing.

Proof of life overseas

Some pensioners live overseas on the Age Pension, Carer Payment or Disability Support Pension. If they are 80 or over and have been away 2 years, they must send a form at least every 2 years. It proves they are still alive. An approved person must sign it.

Now there is a way out. If Services Australia, the agency that runs Centrelink, can confirm the person is alive another way, they may not need the form. The rules on the form itself are also more flexible.

Say your grandmother is 84 and lives in Italy on the Age Pension. Services Australia might confirm she is alive from other records. Then she may not need to find someone to sign and post the form.

Defence Force retirement income

The Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation runs super for public servants and Defence Force members. It offers an account that pays a regular income in retirement. The money comes from a lump sum that stays invested.

Until now, members of the military super schemes could not use this account. Former full-time Defence Force members with a lump sum in a military scheme can now ask to join.

Nobody has to join. People can still pick any other retirement product. This starts on 16 October 2026.

Smaller technical fixes

Some goods from overseas get unfair help from their own government. There is an extra tax on these too. The meaning of that help now matches the World Trade Organization's deal. That is the global body for trade rules.

The Anti-Dumping Commissioner runs dumping cases. A review panel checks those decisions. Both can now fix clear typing slips in their reports without a new investigation.

A sum for working out average prices in dumping cases now works even when there is only one sale in the time checked.

Start date

This bill is now law. It was put to the House of Representatives, the larger house of Parliament, on 13 May 2026. The House passed it on 1 July 2026 with two changes from the government.

The Senate, the second house of Parliament, made two more government changes. It passed the bill on 14 September 2026. The House agreed to those changes the same day.

The Governor-General, the King's stand-in, signed it into law on 18 September 2026. It is Act number 87 of 2026.

Most parts started the next day. Other parts start later, as set out above. The last of them, the plant breeder changes, start in September 2027.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

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