Council of Australian Governments

At its meeting in March 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to the development of NECS and added it to its regulation work program with the intention that its Business Regulation and Competition Working Group (BRCWG) develop advice on appropriate governance arrangements and system implementation processes for its next meeting on 3 July 2008.  Following its meeting in July 2008 COAG issued a communiqué  announcing initiatives for a seamless national economy.  Among the initiatives was NECS.

In February 2009 the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments entered into a National Partnership Agreement (NPA) to deliver a seamless national economy .  Development of NECS as a single national system was included in the agreement as one of 27 initiatives.  Subject in part to meeting specific milestones for each of the initiatives, the Commonwealth committed $550 million to funding the implementation costs and foregone revenue impacts of the States and Territories in delivering the 27 initiatives.  The NPA and its implementation plan impose milestones for the securing of ongoing funding from the Commonwealth. 

These are milestones for reward payments from the Commonwealth to the States and Territories and they are:

• mid 2010 – Agree governance arrangements for new legal entity
• September 2010 – Establish new entity and appoint Board, subject to States and Territories settling  
   funding
• September 2010 – Agree nationally uniform business process
• early 2011 – Enact necessary legislative changes and complete all transitional arrangements
• end 2011 – Commence new e-conveyancing system.

While it is understood the BRCWG commissioned work to define governance arrangements for a new legal entity to deliver NECS, no outcome of the work is known.