Commitments associated with the Royal Commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation, and financial services industry will be implemented at a later time to allow efforts to be focussed on addressing the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 crisis.
“Under the updated timetable, those measures that the government had indicated would be introduced into the Parliament by June 30, 2020, will now be introduced by December 2020,” announced Josh Frydenberg MP, Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia. “Similarly, those measures originally scheduled for introduction by December 2020 will now be introduced by June 30, 2021.
“In relation to commencement dates contained in Royal Commission related exposure draft legislation issued prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the government will also extend these dates by an additional six months.”
For Alan Kirkland, chief executive of consumer advocate CHOICE, the deferral “strikes a sensible balance” between recognising the reality of the unprecedented circumstances and the need to legislate much-needed reforms to protect consumers.
“We look forward to working with the government to finalise the remaining reforms as soon as possible,” said Kirkland, whose sentiments on resuming talks concerning the legislative changes are shared by the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA).
In a statement, the trade body said: “We look forward to recommencing discussions with the government about how some of the reforms could be better amended to reduce over-regulation and red tape. There is a direct relationship between the rising cost of regulation, time constraints on financial planners, and the ability of Australians to access advice.”
Meanwhile the FPA also welcomed the clarity on the timings, but at the same time expressed its belief that the government should remain open to reviewing the timeline given the uncertainty as we progress through the next stage of the current global health and economic crisis.
“Our members have been inundated in recent months, supporting not only existing clients but also providing the broader community with advice as many Australians find themselves in a financial situation they have never experienced before,” noted the association.
“Our members’ priority is to assist them in managing their financial position, which is second only to their health in personal importance.”
