John Braithwaite
The Australian National University
Being a responsive regulator means responsiveness to the regulated community and its community of stakeholders (such as consumers of a regulated product or service). More fundamentally it means being responsive to the entire environment in which the regulator swims . Contemporary debates excessively narrow that to responsiveness to the regulator’s risk environment. 1 Risk responsiveness is important. For a regulator aspiring to achieve excellence, however, responsiveness to opportunities is more important than responsiveness to risk. The excellent regulator scans for cases that offer strategic, macro opportunities to create public value, potentially by transforming an entire industry, even an entire economy or a crucial aspect of freedom in a society. Put another way, risk management goes to the basics of regulation; seizing opportunities for transformation goes to the heart of regulatory excellence.