Australia's Department of the Treasury released an exposure draft of the Payment Systems Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2025 to support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payments System Modernisation) Bill 2025, which passed both Houses on 4 September 2025. The package is intended to give effect to the new framework under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 that allows the Minister to designate a payment system as a “special designated payment system” and to nominate “special regulators” alongside the Reserve Bank of Australia. Amendments to the Payment Systems (Regulation) Regulations 2006 would prescribe the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, Australian Securities and Investments Commission and AUSTRAC as special regulators, specify each agency’s head for these purposes, and set delegation parameters for functions and powers exercised in relation to special designated payment systems. The draft also identifies who may use and disclose information obtained under the PSRA to the Reserve Bank of Australia or another nominated special regulator, and specifies the officials and staff covered by good-faith civil liability protections when performing or assisting with PSRA functions in relation to a special designated payment system. Separate changes to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Regulations 2001 and the Corporations Regulations 2001 would declare a list of existing designated payment systems to be “not financial products” for the purposes of Division 2 of the ASIC Act and Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act, including the MasterCard and Visa credit card systems, Visa debit, the ATM system, EFTPOS, Debit MasterCard and several EFTPOS, MasterCard and Visa prepaid systems. The regulations are drafted to commence at the same time as the Payments System Modernisation legislation commences.

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