Inform better policy, regulation and reform decisions

Regulation and public policy play a critical role in shaping markets, influencing behaviour and delivering social outcomes. But poorly designed or poorly understood regulation can impose unnecessary costs, distort incentives or fail to achieve its intended objectives. NineSquared helps clients understand the economic, social and distributional impacts of regulation and policy — supporting better decisions, stronger cases for change, and more effective outcomes.

Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA / RIS)

We assess the economic, social and financial impacts of regulatory and policy options in line with Australian Government and state-based RIS requirements. This includes identifying the problem, developing options, and assessing costs, benefits and unintended consequences.

Cost-Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

We quantify the net social and economic impacts of regulatory options, including compliance costs, efficiency impacts, behavioural responses and broader social outcomes using cost benefit and cost effectiveness analysis.

Distributional and equity analysis

NineSquared examines how regulatory impacts are distributed across households, businesses, regions and industries — helping decision-makers understand who bears the costs and who benefits

Market and behavioural analysis

We analyse how regulation affects market structure, competition, pricing, supply and demand, and user behaviour. This is particularly important where regulation is intended to correct market failures or influence behaviour.

Why it matters

Understanding the economic impacts of regulation and policy is critical to achieving better outcomes for communities, businesses and governments. Well‑designed regulation can correct market failures, protect consumers and deliver social benefits. Poorly designed regulation, however, can impose unnecessary costs, reduce competitiveness, discourage investment or fail to achieve its intended objectives.

Robust economic analysis helps decision‑makers understand the real‑world implications of policy choices before they are implemented. It brings transparency to trade‑offs, highlights unintended consequences, and provides a defensible basis for selecting the most effective option. For industry and stakeholders, it strengthens engagement with government by grounding advocacy in evidence rather than assumption.

In an environment of fiscal constraint and increasing scrutiny, understanding regulatory impacts also supports better accountability. It helps ensure that interventions deliver value for money, are proportionate to the problem being addressed, and balance efficiency, equity and practicality. Ultimately, rigorous analysis enables regulation and policy to achieve their goals — improving outcomes for people, places and markets.

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Contact us to find out more about how we can assist in the development of regulatory impact assessments

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