Policy Update - August #1
Government makes long-awaited 'Version 5' CDR Rules - implements new business consumer disclosure consent
The Government has now signed into law operational improvements and other changes to support small business participation in CDR.
Originally consulted on last September, the final version of the rules removes rule changes relating to implementing telcos but otherwise generally reflects what was initially proposed - including:
Allowing business consumers to consent to ADRs sharing data with non-accredited third parties;
Extending business consumer use and disclosure consents to ADRs from 12 months to 7 years;
Delaying the commencement of reciprocal data sharing obligations for ADRs who hold banking data sets for 12 months;
A range of measures to clarify and improve outsourcing arrangements.
The new rules will be effective from 1st December 2023. We are pleased to see these important changes finally progress and hope future CDR Rules iterations move more quickly.
New ACCC CDR Developer Portal
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has developed a developer portal to support CDR participants in understanding the technical requirements of the CDR ecosystem and provide guidance for implementing solutions within it. The portal contains material related to the Register APIs, including implementation guidance, a roadmap for API changes, and information on known and resolved issues. It complements the Consumer Data Standards and will be expanded over time to offer more comprehensive guidance.
Revised ACCC guidance for CDR data holders
The ACCC has updated its guidance regarding CDR data holder notifications to account holders in cases where a secondary user modifies or withdraws an authorisation or when the authorisation from the secondary user expires.
The revised Rule 4.28 Notification requirements guidance provides clarity on when such notifications are required. Additionally, minor amendments have been made to the Compliance Guide for Data Holders in the Banking sector and the Clarification of specific Data Quality obligations. These changes specify that a data holder must share relevant data held in a digital form, even if it is not accessible to the consumer digitally.
RBA issues Financial Aggregates statistics for June 2023
The most recent financial aggregates statistics have just been released by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The provided data presents, the financial aggregate showing the monthly and year-ended percentage changes in various credit and broad money categories for June 2023 compared to May 2023 and June 2022.
In June 2023, total credit increased by 0.2% on a monthly basis and by 5.5% on a year-ended basis. The growth in credit was driven by the following categories:
Housing credit grew by 0.2% in June 2023, and on a year-ended basis, it increased by 4.5%.
Personal credit increased by 0.1% in June 2023. On a year-ended basis, it showed positive growth of 0.5%. However, it is noteworthy that in June 2022, personal credit had experienced a decline of -2.7%.
Business credit recorded significant growth, increasing by 0.3% in June 2023 and by 8.3% on a year-ended basis.
ATO seeks fintechs to co-design innovative software services to support small businesses
The ATO is seeking interest from FinTech Providers to join a register that will be used to engage relevant FinTech Providers to collaborate and co-design innovative software services that support small businesses to get their tax, superannuation, and registration obligations right.
Collaboration and co-design would consist of developing prototypes to streamline and improve the small business tax, superannuation, and registry experience.
FinTech Providers interested in joining the register are invited to view the following two open ATO consultations:
Right-time tax payments and reporting
Preventing errors and mistakes through small business software
APRA launches review and updates priorities for data collections roadmap
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has announced its intention to initiate the inaugural annual review of its data directions roadmap. This roadmap, unveiled in March of the previous year, outlines a comprehensive five-year strategy to revolutionise APRA's data collection methods from the entities under its regulation. The recent letter from APRA also offers further insights into its immediate data priorities, enabling entities to prepare for continued engagement and consultation on data-related matters.
What this means to APRA regulated entities is that, the timing surrounding some industry and cross-industry data collection will change.
