Having already reduced the number of government bodies by around 40 as part of phase one of the Abbott government’s Smaller Government Reform Agenda, the phase 2 sequel has identified another 36 organisations to be dispensed with.

Set for outright abolition are the:

·         Abalone Aquaculture Health Accreditation Workshop

·         Albury Wodonga Development Corporation

·         Australian Renewable Energy Agency

·         Australian River Co. Ltd

·         Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee and its Legal Committee

·         National Water Commission

·         COAG Reform Council

·         Office of the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor

·         Prime Minister’s Indigenous Business Policy Advisory Group

Meanwhile, listed for consolidation into wider departments are:

·         Customs and Border Protection into a single operational border group in Immigration.

·         The functions of Health Work Force Australia, GP Education and Training Ltd and the National Preventative Health Agency into Health.

·         Grape and Wine Research and Development Selection Committee and the Wine Australia Corporation Selection Committee into Agriculture.
The Telecommunications Universal Service Management Agency into Communications.

On the Merger list are:

·         ComSuper into the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation.

·         The five present civilian merit review tribunals the into a single organisation including:
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Classification Review Board
Migration Review Tribunal
Refugee Review Tribunal
Social Security Appeals Tribunal

·         The merger of different functions of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will be merged into the Australian Human Rights Commission, the AAT, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, and the Attorney General’s Department

·         Some Private Health Insurance Administration Council functions being sent to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority

·         The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman being merged into the Office of the Commonwealth Obudsman

·         The AQUAPLAN Working Group into Aquaculture Committee

·          The National Biosecurity Committee will absorb the Australian Weeds Committee, Biosafety and Biosecurity working group and the Established Pests and Diseases Working Group

·         The ACCC will swallow the national Competition Council Secretariat

·         The National Blood Authority will merge with the Australian Organ Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority

Although subject to consultation with the states, in the Health arena the government wants to set up a new umbrella commission called the Health Productivity and Performance Commission that would “perform” the functions of:

·         The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare

·         Independent Hospitals Pricing Authority

·         National Health Funding Body

·         National Health Funding Pool Administrator

·         National Health Performance Authority

·         Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Some Labor initiatives that were meant to be set up but never made it out of the blocks have also been given the bullet:

·         The Student Identifiers Agency

·          Brisbane Cross River and Melbourne Metro Projects Advisory Board

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