Weekly Update: 16 June 2023

“Just before the start of the pandemic almost 13 million people were employed in Australia. In May 2023, this had risen to just over 14 million people.”  

Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, 15 June 2023

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Parliamentary Update:

• Housing Minister Julie Collins announced changes to the Federal Government’s Housing Australia Future Fund package. At this stage, the Greens still oppose the bill, and a vote in the Senate is expected next week.  
• Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke is conducting consultations with the ACTU and employer representatives on Friday to give them a detailed briefing on the government’s proposed second wave of workplace policy changes. 
• The Prime Minister delivered a wide-ranging economic update speech to CEDA’s State of the Nation Conference in Canberra.

• The Prime Minister and Minister Bowen announced that the Hon Greg Combet AM has been appointed as Chair of the Net Zero Economy Agency. From 1 July, the Net Zero Authority will work to manage the transformation to a clean energy economy. An Advisory Board was also announced.
• Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones delivered a speech to the ACCC National Consumer Congress, discussing scams and consumer credit.

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Policy Update:

• ABA’s Head of Future Policy, Nicholas Giurietto, participated in CEDA’s State of the Nation conference held in Canberra on June 13 including a panel discussion on meeting the cyber security threat. A video of the session is available here.
• The ABA facilitated a workshop on 14 June between members, the NSW Government and KPMG to explore a tool that will assist the construction industry in calculating the embodied emissions of their projects. As global standards for financed emissions develop, these tools will be useful for banks in making climate-related disclosures.
• The ABA policy team met with the ATO, CPA and CAANZ to discuss joint opportunities to support small businesses with improving their cash flow.

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Regulatory Update:

• The Council of Financial Regulators released their June 2023 Quarterly Statement, mentioning stresses in parts of the international banking system, scams, AML/CTF reform, the impact of high inflation and interest rates on households, businesses and the financial system, and the RBA Review recommendations regarding the Council.
• ASIC Chair Joe Longo delivered a key speech at the CEDA State of the Nation conference. Key themes included the change underway in ESG, how Australia is preparing, and ASIC’s areas of focus.
• The RBA released its June 2023 Bulletin with topics including: climate change and financial risk, the rental market, consumer behaviour, cash use, the drivers of inflation, and the South Pacific.

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Economic Update:

• The unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 per cent in May from 3.7 per cent in April. The number of employed people in Australia is higher than ever before, with 14 million employed and a participation rate of 66.9 per cent. Underemployment increased to 6.4 per cent.
• The RBA released their quarterly bulletin which included analysis of its 2022 consumer payments survey. Key findings included:
  • Tapping a device constituted nearly a third of payments, up from less than ten per cent in the 2019 survey
  • Mobile device payments were most popular among younger age groups, but has at least doubled for nearly all age groups since 2019
  • While nearly two thirds of respondents had heard of cryptocurrency for making payments, only a few per cent had actually used it as a payment method
• The RBA bulletin also included a deep dive into cash use and attitudes in Australia. Insights included:
  • While cash payments still account for around 13 per cent of the number of payments, the majority of cash users use it for less than 20 per cent of payments. High cash users (using cash for more than 80 per cent of payments) account for less than ten per cent of the population, down from over 40 per cent in 2007.
  • Nearly three quarters of respondents report that there would be no problem, or only a minor inconvenience if cash was phased out. Of the very small proportion of high intensity cash users, more than two-thirds say that it would cause no problems / minor inconvenience if cash was phased out.
  • Of those people who report that cash being phased out would cause a problem, the main concern is privacy / security concerns.

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Communications and Media Update:

• With one in six older Australians experiencing some form of abuse, the ABA issued a media release about how World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is an important reminder to look out for the warning signs.

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Submissions Lodged:

• Modernising Australia’s AML-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. 

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Upcoming Submissions:

Published submissions

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Selected Media:

• AFR – Banks urge Canberra to copy UK playbook on easing red tape
• AFR – Interest rates high ‘well into next year’: Carney
• SMH – Rate rises threaten worst economy since 1990s recession: NAB economist
• The Australian – Apple calls for fairness in payments reform, committed to competition

Anna BlighTreasury