The Insurance Council of Australia has joined other peak bodies to attack the federal government’s “inadequate” consultations on complex legislative and regulatory reforms.

A submission from the Alliance of Industry Associations – a group of 30 trade bodies led by the Business Council of Australia – criticises the timescales for feedback on proposed changes.

The submission says the organisations “support genuine and timely consultation as a cornerstone of good policymaking and democratic governance”.

But it notes that increasingly “we are being asked to review and respond to complex exposure draft legislation, regulations and consultation papers within windows that leave little realistic opportunity for considered input, with recommendations from departments to limit our submissions to 1000 words.

“This leaves us with limited capacity to highlight complex issues.”

The submission points to the budget night announcement of changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing, after which legislation was passed in less than a month.

The alliance says rushed consultation runs contrary to government guidance on best practices, which commits policymakers to consulting with businesses and community organisations “in a genuine and timely way” and points “to a minimum period of 30-60 days for engagement on significant reforms”.

The submission adds: “Recent experience suggests that inadequate consultation is not a one-off issue but is endemic across portfolios and topics. Stakeholders, businesses, the community or unions face inadequate opportunities to consider or provide meaningful responses that will be listened to.”

The alliance calls on the government to strengthen cabinet scrutiny of new regulation; appoint an independent Office of Impact Analysis commissioner to strengthen the role of the OIA in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet; and adopt standard minimum stakeholder consultation periods across all policy initiatives.