Dr Tracey McDonald AM PhD FACN, Professor of Ageing, 2006
The dynamism of the current global economy and marketplace underscores the need for, benefits and inevitability of change. What is not widely appreciated is the quantum nature and rapidity of the rate of change in contemporary Australia.
Impediments to the process, including regulation, invariably establish and accentuate gaps over a period of time, between what the consumers demand and what the regulated market provides. Identification, analysis and effective control of the driving forces of change in demands, wants, needs and expectations enable the attainment and the maintenance of effectiveness with progressive, proactive refinements.
Changes in regulations often involve legislation, compromise and time. The consequences can be sudden and brutal; witness the removal of tariffs and import restraints in 1972 and the consequences for the footwear, clothing and textile industries, the motor vehicle sector, the broader manufacturing grouping and the airline industry. The micromanagement of industries by means of government regulation can and often does impede change, innovation and enhanced client satisfaction.
Change is inevitable. Micromanaged regulation is not. All must recognise the past, respect the present and value the future. However, the future will not be a lineal progression of the past and the present. Therefore, the objective must be to achieve and sustain balance. Among unresolved issues, is “whose values will be applied to determine, monitor and refine that balance?”