About the Consultation

Australian Treasury and Industry is exploring how government can improve the way standards are used in regulation - making it easier for businesses to comply, reducing trade barriers, and supporting better regulatory outcomes

The proposed reform package includes:

• Competition Reform Guidelines – to help policymakers apply National Competition Policy (NCP) principles to improve competition, productivity, and consumer outcomes

• Best Practice Handbook – offering practical guidance for referencing standards, assessing risk, and applying conformity assessment

• Proposals for identifying priority sectors to benefit from standards reform

Why this matters for GS1 members and the industry:

Clear, consistent use of internationally recognised standards reduces compliance costs, improves regulatory clarity, and supports interoperability across supply chains. It also ensures that Australian products and services remain competitive in global markets.

Key Documents & Links

• Consultation Page - Treasury

• Consultation Paper (PDF)

• Competition Reform Guidelines (PDF)

• Best Practice Handbook (PDF)

GS1 Australia Submission – Key Messages

GS1 Australia strongly supported this reform initiative as a practical opportunity to modernise regulation and reduce duplication by aligning with open, global data standards already used across industries.

Key messages included:

• Consider supply chain data standards as critical national infrastructure to drive productivity
  Product conformity and supply chain data standards must be recognised and funded as critical national infrastructure within Australia's national productivity strategy - particularly under the Digital and Data - Pillar 3. This is essential for enabling interoperability, regulatory efficiency, and international competitiveness.

• Take a whole-of-economy approach to digital standards for trade
  Government should apply a coordinated, economy-wide approach to adopting global data standards - aligned with not just the Digital Trade Strategy, but also the National Productivity and Competition Agenda, Future Made in Australia, Skills Development and Trade Diversification Strategy, and Sustainable Finance Roadmap.

• Use what already works - leverage the natural language of business
  Industry-adopted global standards (like GTINs for products, GLNs for locations, and EPCIS for traceability) are already embedded in many Australian supply chains and government policy and serve as trusted foundations for regulation. Avoid creating bespoke systems when proven, scalable, interoperable tools exist.

• Consider standards as pre-competitive national digital infrastructure
  Globally adopted industry standards should be treated as public infrastructure, like rail gauges, not as proprietary tools. Governments should enable industry to compete on innovation (e.g. better locomotives), not on incompatible systems that hinder efficiency and collaboration.

• Support consistency and flexibility
  GS1 recommended harmonising regulatory requirements across jurisdictions using common standards, while allowing flexible, risk-based approaches to compliance. This ensures relevance across sectors and technologies without constraining innovation.

• Enable regulatory technology (RegTech) with a focus on proven economic value
  Referencing global standards in regulation helps automate processes, reduce compliance costs, and support Australian RegTech innovation and scale. Much evidence exists that making public and private registries discoverable delivers significant value and economic efficiency - refer recent Centre of International Economics report for more detail.

• Promote open registries - discoverable and verifiable linked data
  GS1 advocated for registry-based systems that make key datasets (e.g. products, certifications, business locations) digitally discoverable and verifiable, using machine-readable formats. This reduces friction across domestic and international supply chains.

• Build public sector capability
  GS1 encouraged the development of public service training on standards, standards development processes, and practical use cases - delivered via the Australian Public Service Academy in collaboration with Australian and international standards bodies.

• Foster collaboration between regulators and standards organisations
  GS1 called for closer partnerships between governments, standards organisations, conformity assessment bodies and industry to co-develop practical tools, policy guidance, and implementation pathways.

Download GS1 Australia’s Full Submission (PDF)