Guide to Intergovernmental Agreements

Since its establishment in 1992, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has settled and signed a number of intergovernmental agreements. The agreements have signified the commitment of jurisdictions to implement decisions that have been either reached or confirmed by COAG. In many instances, agreements have been the precursor to the passage of legislation. Sometimes this has been Commonwealth legislation, while on other occasions joint Commonwealth and State and Territory legislation has been enacted.

Where COAG has directed Ministerial Councils to carry forward issues on its behalf, there is an expectation that any substantive decisions requiring legislation will be enshrined in intergovernmental agreements. This provides members of COAG with an opportunity to review and scrutinise these ministerial decisions before signing and entering into an agreement at head of government level.

There have been occasions when because of the nature of the issues and the urgency to have legislation in place (some examples being the legislation to restrict the use of human embryos for medical research purposes and handgun bans) the political compact forged at the relevant COAG meeting has not been consolidated through an intergovernmental agreement. However, it must be emphasised that this is the exception rather than the rule. COAG level agreements make clear that the outcomes have head of government support and have greater currency and force than ministerial reports and communiqué text which may not always contain detailed policy and/or operational matters.

There is no single template governing the form of an intergovernmental agreement, but typically agreements are composed of the following elements:

recitals;
definitions;
objectives;
institutional arrangements, if any;
ministerial council(s) involvement and any voting arrangements;
future legislative commitments, if any;
financial arrangements, if appropriate;
dispute resolution procedures;
amendment or variation to the agreement provisions; and
review provisions and/or a sunset clause, where appropriate.

Some Current Intergovernmental Agreements

Intergovernmental Agreement for Regulatory Reform in Vocational Education and Training

The Intergovernmental Agreement for Regulatory Reform in Vocational Education and Training (VET IGA) is an agreement between the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments, with the exception of Victoria and Western Australia, to establish the national regulation of VET, including the National VET Regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority, and the National Skills Standards Council. The National VET Regulator will register, monitor and assess vocational training providers’ compliance with the national standards, recommend the registered providers that can enrol international students, encourage continuous improvement and accredit courses where there are no National Training Packages. It may also collect, analyse and publish information on the VET sector and VET providers. The National VET Regulator was established by Commonwealth legislation, the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011, supported by State referrals of certain matters to the Commonwealth. The VET IGA came into force on 4 March 2011.

Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity

The Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity (IGAB) is an agreement between the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, with the exception of Tasmania. This Agreement was developed to improve the national biosecurity system by identifying the roles and responsibilities of governments and outlines the priority areas for collaboration to minimise the impact of pests and disease on Australia’s economy, environment and the community.

Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity - RTF 352KB | PDF 1.9MB

National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement

The National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement (NEBRA) is the first deliverable of the IGAB, and sets out emergency response arrangements, including cost-sharing arrangements, for responding to biosecurity incidents that primarily impact the environment and/or social amenity and where the response is for the public good.