Weekly Update: 15th September 2023

“Using a credit card for gambling can lead very quickly to a very serious debt trap for consumers and this debt cycle can be extremely difficult to break. Online gambling is a fast-growing form of gambling so it’s imperative that this loophole is finally closed. The Federal Government is to be strongly congratulated for acting on this important issue.” 

– ABA CEO Anna Bligh

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Parliamentary Update:

• The Albanese Government struck a deal with the Australian Greens and passed the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) Bills.
  • The Government has committed to 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes in the fund’s first five years.
  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the HAFF as “the single biggest investment in affordable and social housing in more than a decade.”
  • The name of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) will also change to Housing Australia.
• The Federal Government introduced legislation to ban the use of credit cards for online gambling:
  • Interactive Gambling Amendment (credit and other measures) Bill 2023
  • The ABA has long advocated for the Government to take action on this issue and released a statement yesterday stating the importance of over turning the absurd reality of someone not being able to use a credit card in a pub or TAB but still being able to on a betting app.
• Finance Minister Katy Gallagher introduced bills to establish new primary legislation that will provide a legislative framework to support the operation of the identity verification services. Minister Gallagher said “[the] Bills strike the right balance between achieving fast and convenient identity verification and maintaining strong standards of privacy and security”:
  • Identity Verification Services Bill 2023
  • Identity Verification Services (consequential amendments) Bill 2023
• Today, the House of Representatives Economics Committee inquiry into promoting dynamism, competition and business formation heard from:
  • Meta
  • ACCC
  • National Competition Council
  • Treasury
  • Productivity Commission.
• The ABA held a series of meetings in Canberra this week with senior Cabinet Ministers, members of the Opposition and MPs advocating for implementation of a UK style regulatory grid to ensure banks are focused on the regulatory initiatives that improve customer outcomes

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Policy Update:

• The ABA is very pleased to continue our four-year collaboration with associate member McKinsey by facilitating specialist risk-focussed round tables. On 7 September Line 1 Risk leaders from ABA member banks discussed the findings from McKinsey’s Australian and New Zealand digital and cyber security assessment. The key theme which emerged was the challenges in supply chain and third-party security. Third and fourth-party security is one of the most common threat vectors for Australian banks. 
• The ABA hosted the inaugural ‘Economics Series’ webinar today, in conjunction with the Australian Business Economists. Keynote speaker – founder and president of Keybridge Research Dr. Robert Wescott PhD – outlined the current significant economic issues impacting world economies: “We have a lot of cross currents flowing through the world economy today, with critical factors such as US growth, inflation, threats to the globalisation model, and the shifting sands in China all impacting the economy significantly in 2023.”   
  
  A recording of the webinar can be found here.

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Regulatory Update:

• held a members workshop on payments reform and payments licensing
• met with a range of industry associations, including the Tech Council of Australia, to share industry views on how the Australian government can foster the safe and responsible use of AI  
• met with the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts on the Modernising Postal Services consultation into the future viability of Australia Post
• attended the Australian Financial Review Residential Property Summit and heard from the Minister for Housing, the Hon. Julie Collins MP as well as building, banking industry and government professionals on issues impacting the housing sector, including affordability, supply and economic conditions 

• participated in the National Farmers’ Federation and Farming for the Future’s Summit, alongside banking, agribusiness and sustainable finance industry representatives, to explore and learn about research underway to quantify the value of natural capital

• attended Standard & Poor’s annual ‘Breakfast for Economists’ with a panel including Westpac’s Chief Economist Besa Deda and CBA’s Chief Economist Stephen Halmarick. Discussion covered expectations for interest rates, the slowing Chinese economy and housing supply.

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Regulatory Update:

• The ACCC urged businesses to remove unfair contract terms ahead of 9 November, when changes to the Australian Consumer Law will prohibit businesses from proposing, using, or relying on unfair contract terms in standard form contracts with consumers and small businesses.
• The ABA acknowledges that RBA Governor Philip Lowe will be retiring on 18 September 2023 and wishes him the best for the future. Michele Bullock takes on this important role as the RBA continues to address the nation’s inflation challenge and enters a period of change in implementing the recommendations from the Governments Review of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

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Economic Update:

• Research released by the RBA shows that since 2021 the price setting by Australian firms is more keenly influenced by import costs than labour costs. The are also “more sensitive to rising input costs compared to falling costs, suggesting that prices could remain front-of-mind for company executives even as supply pressures ease.”
• The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.0 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms. An additional 64,900 people were employed which is accounted for by the increase in our population.
• However, the number of hours worked fell in August, while the number of employed people reporting they wanted to work more hours (underutilisation) increased, Figure 1.

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Communications and Media:

• The ABA welcomed two new Bills introduced by the Federal Government this week. Read our media releases here:
  • The Interactive Gambling Amendment (credit and other measures) Bill 2023
  • Interactive Verification Services Bill 2023 (and consequential amendments)
• ABA CEO Anna Bligh participated in several media interviews including a piece for Channel 9 on scams and how older people in particular can be vigilant to these.
• The ABA spoke to the AFR regarding the regulatory grid initiative. 

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Upcoming Submissions:

Published submissions

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Selected Media:

• SMH – Where are the home owners who can’t afford their mortgages?
• AFR – The UK answer to the banks’ regulation strangulation problem
• AFR – Country’s online gambling ministers to meet amid credit card crackdown
• SMH – How Philip Lowe was caught on the cusp of history

Weekly Update