Last updated: 
26 August 2020

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:

Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Designs Act) Bill:

Subject to government approval, this Bill will include 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. We are currently consulting on an exposure draft of the Bill. The consultation closes on 28 August 2020.

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

Check existing policy issues

For "Completed" and "Closed" issues, please view the archive page. We have also developed a Guide to viewing updates to the Policy Register.

Search "Title, Policy ID, Issue Summary and Comments"
Hold "Ctrl" key to deselect or multi-select tags

Legend

Priority
High Action will be taken by IP Australia at the next available opportunity
Medium Desirable for action by IP Australia in the medium term, but will not be addressed immediately
Low Limited evidence or justification for change at the present time. Unlikely to be progressed by IP Australia in the short or medium term.
Status
Identified for action IP Australia has received evidence to the extent that the issue warrants further policy development and consultation.
Policy development IP Australia is working on the policy options for addressing this issue.
Consultation Public consultation is ongoing on this issue.
Legislative drafting The Government has approved legislative action on this issue. Appropriate legislative amendments are being prepared.
In Parliament

A Bill is being considered by Parliament to address this issue.
Implementation An issue which does not require legislation, but which IP Australia is taking non-legislative action to address.
Completed An issue where a policy change has been implemented.
Closed

No action will be taken on this issue now or in the future.
On hold This issue is not being progressed by IP Australia at the present time, but is recorded on the register for potential work by IP Australia in future.