In Australia there was recently a change to to bicycle helmet standards as outlined in AS/NZS 2063:2008.

Basically, helmets complying to the 1996 version of the standard will soon become illegal to sell in Australia.

I want to buy a helmet with the 1996 standard because it's cheaper now (due to stock clearance), but I don't know if it will be any less safe?

I'm very skeptical as to whether the new standard will be safer in use, because virtually no useful information is given to the public as to what the changes actually are. Furthermore, these are laws being passed by bureaucrats who seemingly have very little idea of the actual science behind these standards! To make matters even worse, they do not differentiate between helmets for different cycling uses e.g. mountain bike vs. road, and throw seemingly arbitrary numbers around.

Should I be concerned buying a helmet of an older standard or do you think this just silly bureaucracy in play?