Policy Update - June #1
Major payments system reform announcements and finalisation of the Strategic Plan
The Treasurer this week announced the finalisation of the Strategic Plan for the Payments System, which sets out the Government's policy objectives and priorities for payments.
Accompanying the finalisation of the Plan, the Government released two consultations which were outlined in the Plan:
A discussion paper on defining payment functions, to support a licensing framework for payment service providers; and
A consultation paper on proposed reforms to the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998.
Government responds to the Statutory Review of the Consumer Data Right
The Government this week released a statement in response to the Statutory Review of the Consumer Data Right.
The response agrees to many of the Review's recommendations and sets out a path forward for the next few years, notably flagging:
Greater focus on supporting the CDR to mature in banking and energy and improving data quality, before considering further sectoral expansions like telcos, super and insurance;
Prioritising the rollout of action initiation;
Enhancing cyber security;
Greater transparency on the consultation schedule and forward timelines;
Greater visibility of the 'Benefits Realisation Management Framework'; and
Consultation on policy options for phasing out screen scraping.
Minister Jones also flagged that an update will be available "very soon" on the Version 5 CDR Rules, which include implementation of business disclosure consents.
New consultation paper on Safe and Responsible AI in Australia
The Government has recently released a discussion paper on safe and responsible AI in Australia. The discussion paper explores a range of potential tools, frameworks, principles, regulations, standards, and business practices aimed at ensuring responsible AI use. The paper builds upon the Government's National Science and Technology Council's Rapid Research Report on Generative AI.
AUSTRAC publishes final guidance on debanking
AUSTRAC has released new guidance aimed at addressing the issue of debanking.
This new guidance is aimed at banks and businesses operating within sectors affected by debanking. It seeks to clarify the role that both banks and affected businesses play in ensuring a balance between risk management and financial inclusion.
FinTech Australia and our members were closely involved in the development of this guidance. We appreciate the guidance and AUSTRAC's position of discouraging the indiscriminate and widespread closure of accounts across entire industries and encouraging banks to assess their customers’ financial crime risks on a case by case basis.
However, we remain disappointed about the lack of action in implementing the Council of Financial Regulators' proposed policy responses to debanking. If you have recently been impacted by debanking, please reach out to the team. Data and recent de-identified case studies help us to raise this issue with Government.
AUSTRAC's National Risk Assessment Survey
AUSTRAC is actively working on two national risk assessments to showcase Australia's comprehension of money laundering and terrorism financing risks.
AUSTRAC invites members to complete a short survey to help them gather insights into the current money laundering and terrorism financing environment in Australia and the measures currently in place to mitigate these risks. Completing the survey should only take 5-10 minutes.
