History
The Commission traces its lineage back to the Tariff Board which was established in the 1920s. Asserting the independence which was always dormant within the Tariff Board's Act, the Board was transformed into a crusader for economic rationality by its Chairman in the 1960s, Alf Rattigan after whom the Commission's Melbourne hearing room is named. On 1 January 1974 the Tariff Board became the Industries Assistance Commission. It became the Industry Commission in the late 1980s and the Productivity Commission in April 1998 by legislation. The PC was the almagamation of three bodies which joined to form the new Commission - the Industry Commission, Bureau of Industry Economics and Economic Planning Advisory Commission. The three bodies were amalgamated on an administrative basis in 1996.
The Commission has been criticised by Australian Manufacturing industry for being too theoretical in its approach, biased towards outdated free-trade views that fail to reflect trade realities and having pre-determined views that dissuade key industry participants from making public submissions to its inquiries.
In late 2009, a major Productivity Commission recommendation on parallel importation of books was overturned by the Australian Government.
Read more about this topic: Productivity Commission
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