In response to what Australian state governments considered as inadequate reform at the national level, coinciding with an understanding of the clear need to address the future challenges, the Victorian Government has argued for (and indeed COAG has accepted) three key components under the new NRA. These components are competition, regulation and human capital. In essence, competition is about more competitive markets, regulation is about reducing red tape and human capital is about a healthier, better skilled and a more motivated workforce.

From 2005, the Victorian Government actively argued at COAG that a clear vision for the next decade was needed, with all governments needing to work together to boost Australia’s economic productivity and workforce participation. The evidence suggests and COAG has agreed, that this can be done by boosting productivity and lifting participation through a continued focus on business (through the lenses of competition and regulation mentioned above) and a new focus on human capital.

The NRA is a complex, interrelated and long term agenda with a simple message at its heart. It argues that governments need to work together for the common good to drive improvements to our productivity and lift workforce participation. The Victorian Government has also argued that the NRA requires a decade-long focus on reform in order to gain more immediate opportunities, such as completing the NCP reforms and extending the NCP reform agenda to include regulatory and infrastructure reform.