Joe Longo

A new report from ASIC reveals the agency has culled more than 9,240 pages of regulation since the beginning of the year as it calls for further ideas for regulatory simplification.

The report, Regulatory Simplification, marks the first milestone in ASIC’s simplification work and seeks input on a range of initiatives aimed at making regulation clearer, more accessible and easier to navigate—while maintaining strong consumer protections.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said the regulator had listened to feedback about its guidance, its website, and its legal instruments, and it was acting.

‘Regulatory complexity raises costs, stifles innovation and makes compliance harder.

‘Since we formed the ASIC Simplification Consultative Group late last year with key leaders across business, industry and consumer groups, we have been focused on simplifying how we regulate.

‘Simpler, clearer regulation is more enforceable but it also means more seamless interactions with ASIC, more understandable rules to protect consumers, and clearer compliance requirements.’

The report outlines ASIC’s initiatives in the following key areas:

• Improving access to regulatory information, including a redesigned ASIC website that cuts more than 9,000 pages of content, and regulatory roadmap pilots for small-company directors and providers of financial advice, designed to help these groups understand and navigate their regulatory obligations.
• Reducing complexity in regulatory instruments, with pilots to consolidate and simplify 23 legislative instruments by at least 65 pages, in addition to the 181 pages of guides that have already been cut.
• Making it easier to interact with ASIC, including transitioning more ‘paper-only’ documents to email lodgement and enabling electronic signatures on all forms by 1 October this year. These are practical next steps towards fully streamlined digital lodgement services in the future.

The paper also highlights areas of law reform which we heard from stakeholders would simplify regulation. ASIC is actively contributing to these law reform discussions and working closely with Treasury to explore broader opportunities for reform.

‘This is a multi-year program of work and we want to hear more about what we should consider for our next steps and initiatives,’ Mr Longo said.

‘We want to hear from those who engage with ASIC—what works, what doesn’t, and what would make the biggest difference.’

ASIC is seeking feedback on these initiatives and simplification more broadly by 15 October 2025. Submissions can be made anonymously or via email to simplificationconsultativegroup@asic.gov.au.

Download

Report 813 Regulatory simplification

Background

The ASIC Chair announced the agency’s focus on regulatory simplification in November 2024 in a speech at the ASIC Annual Forum: ASIC Annual Forum 2024: Bridging generations – regulating for all Australians.

The ASIC Simplification Consultative Group has included:

• Joe Longo (Co-Chair), ASIC Chair
• Nicola Wakefield-Evans (Co-Chair), Board Member of Guardians of Future Fund, Non-Executive Director Viva Energy Group, Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Chair of MetLife Australia, Member of Takeovers Panel, GO Foundation Board, UNSW Foundation
• Anna Bligh, CEO, Australian Banking Association
• Professor Ross Buckley, ARC Laureate Fellow & Scientia Professor, UNSW & Member RBA Payments System Board
• Stephanie Tonkin, CEO, Consumer Action Law Centre
• Bran Black, CEO, Business Council of Australia
• Andrew McKellar, CEO, Australia Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Naomi Edwards, Chair, Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Pauline Vamos, Chair, Governance Institute of Australia
• Xavier O’Halloran, CEO and Founding Director, Super Consumers Australia
• Luke Achterstraat, CEO, Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia

Further details on the work of the group can be found at Regulatory simplification.

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Nicola Wakefield Evans

The 30% Club Australia, a leading organisation campaigning for 30% women on ASX boards, has announced new targets for ASX 201- 300 companies to meet the 30% target by the end of 2021 to mark International Women’s Day.

Previously only ASX 200 companies were targeted to meet the voluntary target by the 30% Club.

“This is an amazing achievement as Australia is the first country in the OECD region to achieve significant targets without regulatory intervention, ahead of UK, US and Canada. It’s been proven that gender diversity can be reached without quotas and intervention as long as there are passionate advocates for diversity across ASX Chairs and Directors,” said Nicola Wakefield Evans, Chair 30% Club.

Last year was a watermark point for corporate Australia as for the first-time women accounted for more than 30% of board positions across ASX 50 (32.7%) and ASX 100 (31.3%).

“However, the number of female company directors for the ASX201-300 stood at 19.7 per cent, with still 28 companies with no females on their boards.

“So, in a way the hard work is just beginning as the 30% Club increases its advocacy.  We have set up a new Investment Banking/Private Equity Working Group to seek greater support from business and the investment community, and to increase their contribution towards building gender diverse boards.

“The community at large expects the composition of boards to reflect the broader Australian population. I believe the time is right to look beyond ASX 200 companies to also include the small cap companies sector,” notes Ms Wakefield Evans.

Susan Roberts, Head of Investor Working Group 30% Club added: “We will continue to work closely with investors from the investment management sector and Australian super funds to focus on achieving diversity on ASX300 Boards.

“Large super funds and fund managers are leading the way in advocating for gender diversity, based on the belief that companies that are well governed and sustainable will deliver positive results over the long term” says Ms Roberts.

The latest Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) gender diversity figures show women now make up 29.7 per cent of all ASX200 board positions, an increase of over 10 percentage points since the target was set in 2015.

There are still three boards in the top ASX200 with no women on their boards: ARB Corporation, Emeco Holdings and TPG Telecom. And there are 50 boards on the ASX200 with only one woman on their board.

The 30% Club in Australia was established in May 2015. The first three years of the Club’s establishment in Australia have been a period of intense activity with the signing on of 95 Chair members, 14 signatories to the investors’ Statement of Intent, growth in participation of women on ASX companies’ boards, and the engagement of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) as the secretariat support for the 30% Club in Australia.

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Nicola Wakefield Evans

The 30% Club Australia, a leading organisation campaigning for 30% women on ASX 200 boards by the end of 2018, has announced the appointment of Ms. Nicola Wakefield Evans to the position of Chair, effective 1 July 2018, replacing Patricia Cross who will stand down on 30 June 2018.

After several years of incubation, Patricia Cross founded the 30% Club in Australia, with its formal launch in May 2015.

The first three years of the Club’s establishment in Australia have been a period of intense activity with the signing on of 95 Chair members, 14 signatories to the investors’ Statement of Intent, growth in participation of women on ASX 200 companies from 19.4% of board seats to 27.7% today, and the engagement of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) as the secretariat support for the 30% Club in Australia.

The latest figures from AICD reveal that for the first-time women account for 30% of board positions across ASX 100 companies and that this is ahead of UK, US and Canada (which are 28.9%, 23.6% and 20.6% respectively).

“We’ve made significant progress in Australia to date, but in a way the hard work is just beginning as the 30% Club will begin to increase its own advocacy.  I’m excited about handing the reins over to Nicola, as she is a passionate advocate for diversity, a highly engaged member of our 30% Club Australia Steering Committee, and as well as a director of our vital stakeholder- the AICD,” notes Ms Cross.

“I am thankful for the tremendous support we have received since founding from key stakeholders such as the AICD, KPMG, Shed Connect, Macquarie, Bloomberg and the ANZ.  The support of these organisations has been enthusiastic from the very top down all the way through.  I also want to express my gratitude to Ownership Matters and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors for their thought leadership on this subject, both to me and to the broader business community.”

“We are all especially appreciative of the support from so many leading ASX company Chairs.  It wouldn’t happen without you,” says Ms Cross.

Nicola Wakefield Evans comes to her new role with a wealth of professional, corporate and advocacy experience.

She is a non-executive director of Macquarie Group, Lendlease Corporation, Bupa Australia & New Zealand and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

She was a partner of King & Wood Mallesons for over 20 years, before retiring from the partnership in 2013.

She has a long-standing commitment to gender diversity, including being on the board of Chief Executive Women. She sits on the national board of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and she has been involved in the 30% Club since its formation

She has been a regular contributor to debates on such issues as extending childcare hours to give women more flexibility with their working hours, and pushing company chairs to broaden their criteria for selecting directors.

Wakefield Evans says the discussion about diversity in the boardroom needs to move away from simplistic labels.

Speaking recently at the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors conference, she noted that “Australia has a “systemic, cultural” problem with women in power.”

“We have strong support from business and the investment community, and a burning desire on their part to advocate for diverse boards.  We have bi-partisan support from our political leaders. The community at large expects the composition of boards to reflect the broader Australian population.  So I believe the time is right to reignite this conversation and campaign.”

“Gender still plays into the reporting of how directors and executives perform.  It shouldn’t matter whether they are male or female,” she says.

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