Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb delivered a keynote to the Australian Banking Association’s Banking 2025 Conference setting out how the ACCC’s remit is expanding across consumer protection, competition and digital regulation, and highlighting current and upcoming work affecting banks on scams, Digital ID and the Consumer Data Right (CDR), digital platform infrastructure, cash distribution and sustainability collaborations. On scams, the address pointed to the ACCC-led National Anti-Scam Centre and reported declines in 2024 scam reports (18%) and scam losses (26%) versus 2023, while flagging a “next phase” via the Scam Prevention Framework. The framework is expected to impose consistent, enforceable obligations on key sectors, with banks, telecommunications providers and certain digital platforms likely among the first in scope, and to require mandatory scam intelligence sharing across designated sectors. On digital infrastructure, the speech cited growth in Digital ID use, including myGovID exceeding 10 million users, and noted 2024 legislation enabling phased expansion of the Australian Government Digital Identity System to state and territory services and, in time, the private sector, alongside an emphasis on interoperability and user choice. For the CDR, it reported around 530,000 consumers using the system and set out priorities being progressed with Treasury to make compliance more proportionate and support higher-value use cases, including consumer finance and lending, alongside planned simplifications such as streamlined consent, removing data-sharing requirements for certain niche products, shortening the period CDR data must be held and shared, and exempting data relating to trial products during a trial period. The address also referenced the ACCC’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry findings on Apple and Google’s market power in mobile operating systems and app distribution and associated risks for competition in payments, alongside ongoing work with Treasury on a targeted digital competition regime for designated platforms. On payments resilience, it pointed to ACCC authorisations supporting coordinated cash-in-transit sustainability measures (with reporting and consultation conditions) and the phased wind-down of cheques (with conditions to support vulnerable users), and noted the Council of Financial Regulators and the ACCC have released a consultation paper on a potential future regulatory framework for cash distribution.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 2025-07-24
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair outlines scam prevention obligations, Consumer Data Right simplification and cash distribution reforms for banks
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb discussed the commission's expanding role in consumer protection, competition, and digital regulation at the Australian Banking Association’s Banking 2025 Conference. Topics included the National Anti-Scam Centre's progress, Digital ID growth, Consumer Data Right priorities, findings from the Digital Platform Services Inquiry on Apple and Google, and initiatives for payments resilience and cash distribution regulation.