IP Australia's policy register is a list of issues that we are considering or working on for policy action or legislative amendment. The register aims to enhance public participation in government decision making, in line with the government's Open Government National Action Plan.
Policy issues come to our attention as a result of:
- government priorities
- recommendations from IP related reviews
- stakeholder suggestions
- international developments
- submissions made to the policy register
- internal proposals.
The policy issues on the register relate to the IP rights and legislation we administer: patents, trade marks, designs, plant breeder's rights (PBR) and Olympic insignia.
IP Australia works closely with the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to provide advice to government on IP policy. The government determines which issues will ultimately be the subject of proposed legislative amendments. While all the issues on the register are considered, that does not mean that any legislative or policy changes will necessarily take effect.
IP Australia's current legislative agenda
Our current legislative agenda includes:
Designs Amendment (Advisory Council on Intellectual Property Response) Bill 2020 (Designs Bill):
This Bill includes accepted recommendations from the former Advisory Council on Intellectual Property's (ACIP) 2015 review of the designs system along with some other high-priority designs matters. Measures include the introduction of a grace period for filing design applications, and other improvements to clarify and simplify the designs system and provide more flexibility for designers.
From 23 July to 28 August 2020 IP Australia consulted on an exposure draft of the Designs Bill, accompanying regulations and draft explanatory material. The submitted responses and our response are published on our Consultation Hub.
On 2 December 2020 the Designs Bill was introduced into the Senate and is currently before Parliament for consideration.
IP Australia's forward legislative agenda
IP Australia’s Corporate Plan 2019/20 includes the development of its policy and legislative agenda in consultation with stakeholders under Horizon 1 (2018-2022). We would welcome feedback from stakeholders to inform future priorities for changes to the IP rights system.
In addition to commenting on specific policy issues, we welcome comments on the broad direction that future policy work could take. For example, are there particular IP rights (i.e. patents, trade marks, designs, plant breeder’s rights, Olympic insignia), themes, or aspects of the IP system, that future reforms should address as a priority?
Submissions may be made using our general Policy Register feedback form.
Further queries regarding the forward legislative agenda may be sent to Policy-Register@ipaustralia.gov.au.
How to have your say
We invite you to provide feedback on the issues on the register you are interested in. You can do so by using the policy feedback form which is available on each policy issue page.
You can submit new policy issues for our consideration. If you are considering submitting an issue we would encourage you read our Guide to providing feedback to IP Australia’s Policy Register to gain an understanding of what information is helpful to provide.
We also welcome general feedback on the policy register or our legislative agenda.
More information
- SNIPER – a bibliographic database on IP related matters
- Consultation Hub – open consultations and the outcomes of consultations conducted after 2019
- Consultation Archive - outcomes of consultations conducted before 2020
- Cutting red tape
- Stakeholder submissions