National standards. Regional decisions. Local delivery.
Every S38 system follows the same three-layer logic. The point is not a bigger Canberra; it is one set of rules, regional planning that knows local need, and frontline staff who stay where the work is.
Layer 1
National
Sets rights, technical standards, registers, data and interoperability. Independent regulators and integrity bodies are protected from partisan direction.
Layer 2
Regional
Plans services, sets local priorities, runs accessible service offices and reports performance to the communities it serves.
Layer 3
Local
Paramedics, teachers, inspectors, caseworkers and counter staff deliver services face to face, with assisted access for people who need it.
What Australians could experience.
Intended changes, to be piloted and measured against published baselines. Not guaranteed outcomes.
Today
Dispatch and clinical systems differ across borders, complicating cross-region response.
Proposed
Interoperable dispatch, common clinical standards and recognised workforce credentials.
Today
Teachers can face repeated registration processes when they move interstate.
Proposed
Portable registration through a dedicated national teacher registration and workforce authority.
Today
Licensing rules, records and processes vary by jurisdiction.
Proposed
One national licensing framework with regional service counters.
Today
Businesses can register and comply separately in several jurisdictions.
Proposed
Common registers and licensing rules, with local inspection and advice.
Thirty-eight services, organised around people.
Safety & Justice
Police, fire, ambulance, courts and corrections working to compatible protocols, so help can cross a border as quickly as an emergency does.
Health & Care
Hospitals, aged care, disability, childcare and child protection connected around the person, not around the jurisdiction that funds them.
Learning & Work
Portable registration, credentials and workplace protections that follow teachers, tradespeople and workers wherever they live.
Places & Resilience
Transport, roads, housing, water, energy, environment and fuel planned as national networks with regional land-use and route decisions.
Business & Everyday Life
One set of rules for registering, licensing and complying, whether you run a cafe, sell a car, renovate a house or transfer a title.
Government & Democracy
Public employment, records, procurement, civil registration and elections administered once, independently and transparently.
Service continuity comes first.
Democratic authority
Legally assess and obtain constitutional, referendum and any applicable state-consent approvals before institutional abolition or irreversible transfers.
National standards, regional delivery
Set consistent rights and technical standards nationally, with regional decision-making, accessible service offices and local frontline delivery.
Independent institutions
Protect courts, electoral bodies, integrity agencies, regulators and police oversight from partisan direction.
Uninterrupted public services
Protect emergency services, benefits, licensing, schools and healthcare throughout migration. Dual-running is a cost to plan for, not a reason to put continuity at risk.
Financial integrity
Report cashable savings, noncash efficiencies, transition spending, new operating costs and service outcomes separately. No government-wide net savings claim is established.
Participation and equity
Protect accessibility, remote communities, First Nations interests, worker rights, privacy, independent complaints and review.
Better service is the case. Savings are unproven.
Any efficiency must be independently costed and audited before it is claimed or reinvested in frontline delivery.
- proposed systems
- 38
- preliminary illustrative gross scenarios
- 11
- uncosted
- 27
- verified net impact not available
- N/A