FinTech Voice, October 5, 2023

Written By Katrina Angelika

Hi Community,

Thank you to all who have participated in our fintech census with EY. With fewer industry reports and diminished investment sentiment in the sector, this report is more important than ever to drive engagement with our crucial stakeholders. Your involvement has been instrumental in shaping the future of our industry. We will soon be conducting a few qualitative interviews before its launch in November.

FinTech Australia and Austrade are partnering for a new initiative in 2024 — Fintech for Net Zero. If you are interested in this initiative, please reach out.

If you are a tech company based in Victoria, make your voice heard through the Victorian Digital Technology Sector Survey. This survey helps the Victorian Government understand the challenges and opportunities of tech businesses to develop new initiatives and support businesses.

Kind regards,

Rehan D’Almeida,

General Manager,

FinTech Australia

Policy Update

Government Response to the Privacy Act Review

We now have a response from the Government on the Privacy Act Review Report to reform Australia's current privacy framework. In its first phase, implementation of the response will involve steps to introduce legislation for personal information protection in 2024. Its second phase, led by the Attorney-General's Department, will involve further consultation and a comprehensive impact analysis before the Government makes final decisions on implementation of proposals marked in the response as 'agrees in principle'.

AGD has published a helpful fact sheet outlining the structure of the response and next steps.

FinTech Australia made a submission to the consultation process earlier this year which informed the Government's response.

Digital Identity Bill consultation

The Government is calling on feedback on the draft Digital Identity Bill 2023, which includes views on the proposed Digital Identity Rules and Digital ID Accreditation.

When passed, the legislation will move Digital ID to a nationally regulated system, making it more accessible across both the public and private sectors introducing strong privacy provisions. 

There is a short turnaround for submissions, with these due 10 October. FinTech Australia will make a short submission if members have specific feedback on the draft bill. Please reach out if this consultation is of interest.

New White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities 

The Government has released a White Paper outlining the Government's vision for the future of Australia's labour market.

The White Paper's roadmap has a strong focus on supporting digital/tech jobs and outlines five objectives that will contribute to achieving the Government's vision:

  1. Delivering sustained and inclusive full employment

  2. Promoting job security and strong, sustainable wage growth

  3. Reigniting productivity growth

  4. Filling skills needs and building our future workforce

  5. Overcoming barriers to employment and broadening opportunity

We are currently working on the submission to:

  1. Screen Scraping - Policy and Regulatory Implications 

  2. CDR rules - Expansion to the non-bank lending sector

  3. CDR Consent Review and operational enhancements design papers

We recently made submissions on:

  1. ACCC Data Brokers Issues paper;

  2. Supporting Responsible AI: Discussion Paper;

  3. Licensing of payment service providers - payment functions;

  4. Reforms to the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998;

  5. Modernising Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing consultation;

  6. Senator Bragg's Digital Asset (Market Regulation) Bill 2023;

  7. AFCA Rules and Operational Guidelines consultation.

  8. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics inquiry into promoting economic dynamism, competition, and business formation;

  9. Privacy Act Review Report consultation;

  10. Treasury's consultation paper on crypto token mapping.

See our recent submissions on our website.

FinTech Australia regularly makes submissions to consultations across a wide range of policy and regulatory issues. Communications about how to get involved in these processes are distributed to our Policy Working Group membership.

Upcoming Events

OneSpan and FinTech Australia are excited to invite you to an exclusive webinar in which we will explore the dynamic world of blockchain technology, and its pivotal role in safeguarding your business processes.

Join Will LaSala, Field CTO Americas, and Guy Harrison, Enterprise Architect /Founder ProvenDB to deep dive on restoring trust and confidence in revenue-generating transactions, enhance security whilst simplifying customer experience, and preserving the integrity of digital transactions and agreements.

Reserve your spot now!

Whether this is your first, second or third investment round, gaining insights into key legal issues for both founders and investors will help ensure you are prepared for all stages of an upcoming raise. From initial discussions with investors and due diligence requests to managing relationships post-investment – good legal governance practices ensure you can navigate the investment process confidently and efficiently.

Having worked for many of Australia's largest companies as well as some of the most innovative startups, the Allens team is equipped with the experience and knowledge to navigate challenges startups face before, during and after external financing.

Join Allen's free Brisbane event — Set up your startup for success ahead of external financing! Save your spot now.

 Are you a non-bank lender?

Are you aware that Non-bank lenders could be joining banks and energy companies in sharing customer data under CDR as soon as November 2024?

Join Basiq for their upcoming webinar:  “Becoming a Data Holder: A Guide for Non-Bank Lenders”

Hear Basiq's CEO and Founder, Damir Ćuća , who will be sharing insights about the road to becoming a Data Holder, based on Basiq’s learnings as Australia's leading Open Banking provider. 

 Austrade is pleased to announce that they have commenced recruitment for the Tech Trade Mission to India 2023, which will be held between 27 November to 1 December 2023.

This mission aims to support Australian technology companies in connecting with India's quickly expanding innovation ecosystem and building deeper relationships with clients, partners, and investors.

Submit your EOI by the 20th of October, 2023.

Download Program Overview

EPAA is inviting you to EPAA Master Talk: The Impact of Quantum Computing on Banking Payments and Financial Services!

Join Ray Harishankar, IBM Fellow and Vice President for a groundbreaking seminar that aims to explore and spark discussions around the profound implications of quantum computing on the world of banking payments and financial services

Get 50% off tickets using this code: FA50OFF 

Community Updates

Don’t miss all the news and insights from our members and corporate partners from our newsroom.

FinTech Australia's Podcast

Listen to the challenges, opportunities, and stories from our community faces across the fintech industry in Australia!

In our most recent episode, we had the chance to chat with Sivan Atad, Founder and CEO of nVest, which had recently won SmartCompany's pitch company, the Pitch.

Katrina Angelika
Previous

Making 2FA/MFA robust against smishing and related attacks
Next

Global Payments Omnichannel launches with real-time functionality