20 March 2023
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission to the Senate Select Committee on Cost of Living’s (Committee) inquiry into the cost of living pressures facing Australians, ways to ease the cost of living and the Government’s fiscal policy response (Inquiry).
Banks are aware of the challenges Australians face in the current inflationary environment, which have arisen from a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, high household savings, pent-up demand, and global factors, including supply chain constraints and the war in Ukraine. To curb inflation, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), alongside other central banks globally, have responded by tightening monetary policy. The increases in the target cash rate have had flow-on effects to the cost of banking and living for Australian consumers.
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The ABA strongly supports extension of the exemption for a period of a further two years to 3 October 2026 and requests the Treasury explore making the exemption permanent to ensure certainty and reduce regulatory restrictions and barriers for small businesses seeking access to credit.
Banks play an active role to support customers during natural disasters. ABA’s submission is made in two parts, first, outlining banks’ active support of customers during natural disasters and second, responding to the questions in respect to impacts of insurance unaffordability put to the ABA.
Banks continue to strongly support measures to allow companies and registered schemes to fulfil their legal obligations to hold meetings and execute documents using electronic means under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The ABA makes four key recommendations, including providing optionality for companies to host AGMs in either hybrid or wholly online formats; amendments to… Read more »