The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has published an APRA Explains article reviewing progress under its “Getting the balance right” objective, which seeks to reduce unnecessary cost and complexity without weakening financial safety and stability. Eight of the nine initiatives announced in its 2025-26 Corporate Plan are expected to be finalized by the end of 2026, including measures to simplify bank licensing, governance and data reporting requirements and clarify supervisory capital adjustments. Completed measures include a third tier in the bank proportionality framework, wider access to internal capital models, lower capital requirements for annuity products and greater insurer access to cost-effective reinsurance. APRA has also increased data sharing with external stakeholders by 30% over the past 12 months to limit duplicative industry requests. Further work covers targeted bank credit risk capital reforms, trans-Tasman capital harmonization, Financial Accountability Regime burden reduction and a broader policy simplification package. Harmonizing bank capital rules with New Zealand could reduce annual costs for banks operating in both countries by about AUD 175 million. Under its 2026-27 Corporate Plan, APRA plans further measures to release capital, streamline prudential requirements and remove duplicate reporting. It aims for these simplification measures to offset the burden from new requirements, producing a broadly neutral overall effect on regulatory burden.

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