22 May 2020
The ABA has set up a natural disasters work program that reports to our 16 Council members in order to clarify, strengthen and streamline the banking industry’s response to natural disasters to ensure that they have the right tools for the job at the right time.
By the beginning of March 2020, the major banks had provided bushfire assistance grants totalling $7.6 million to more than 4,000 customers across Australia. The banks had also raised more than $42 million in donations to help devastated communities and assisted more than 3,500 customers with financial relief packages of the types described below.
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Banks are actively exploring digital identity initiatives and see the benefit of collaboration between government and industry.
The interests of the Australian economy will be better served if there is flexibility to innovate and respond to the needs of consumers and businesses, instead of establishing a single government digital identity scheme.
Government can also achieve genuine collaboration with industry without legislation.
The ABA supports a review of the Privacy Act and the stated goals to ensure privacy settings empower consumers, protect consumer data, and best serve the Australian economy.
Achieving the balance between Personal Information (PI) protection, innovation and economic growth will require considerable time and effort from the AGD to get these reforms right.
The ABA urges the government to first design an overarching blueprint and roadmap for data and information privacy.
The ABA highlights at multiple points that the OAIC could provide further and specific guidance rather than embedding the detail in the Privacy Act.
The ABA proposes a small number of changes that would make these policy outcomes clear on the face of legislation and provide flexibility for the regime to address issues specific to one or more critical sectors.
The ABA also reiterates that a harmonised approach, where a single regulator has a clear mandate and a transparent system in place for regulatory coordination, will ensure critical assets in the banking sector are secure and resilient.
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