Issue 782, 2 November 2020
In this issue:
- Cessation of SCT: amending bill and consultation
- Review of Privacy Act: consultation
- APRA Superannuation Data Transformation project: FAQs
- COVID-19 Coronavirus: early release of super – APRA data
Cessation of SCT: amending bill and consultation
The Government has introduced into Parliament amendments to facilitate the cessation of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) by 31 December, as announced in last year’s Budget.
The amendments are contained in Schedule 2 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (2020 Measures No 4) Bill 2020, which was introduced into Parliament on 28 October. The amendments:
- provide for the transfer of records and documents from the SCT to ASIC, and for access to those records and documents by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) or the Federal Court where necessary in order to undertake their functions
- specify that matters on appeal to the Federal Court from the SCT can instead be remitted to AFCA
- introduce a rule-making power enabling the Minister to prescribe other matters of a transitional nature.
The amendments in the Bill are in addition to recent consultation on amendments to AFCA’s rules to allow it to:
- deal with those complaints that remain unresolved by the SCT prior to its cessation
- action any matters remitted back from the Federal Court in relation to SCT determinations.
See ASFA Action issue 776 in relation to the proposed amendments to AFCA’s rules.
The Bill has been referred to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for a brief inquiry and report by 26 November. Submissions to the Committee are due by 10 November.
If you have any feedback you would like ASFA to consider in relation to the proposed amendments, please forward it to Julia Stannard by close of business Thursday 5 November.
Review of Privacy Act: consultation
The Government has commenced a review of the Privacy Act 1988, to ensure privacy settings empower consumers, protect their data and best serve the Australian economy.
The review covers areas including:
- the scope and application of the Privacy Act
- whether the Privacy Act effectively protects personal information and provides a practical and proportionate framework for promoting good privacy practices
- whether individuals should have direct rights of action to enforce privacy obligations under the Privacy Act
- whether a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy should be introduced into Australian law
- the impact of the notifiable data breach scheme and its effectiveness in meeting its objectives
- the effectiveness of enforcement powers and mechanisms under the Privacy Act and how they interact with other Commonwealth regulatory frameworks
- the desirability and feasibility of an independent certification scheme to monitor and demonstrate compliance with Australian privacy laws.
The Attorney-General’s Department has released an issues paper as part of the review and is seeking submissions by 29 November.
APRA Superannuation Data Transformation project: FAQs
APRA has released a new set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on its Superannuation Data Transformation Project.
As outlined in earlier issues of ASFA Action, the multi-year project will upgrade the breadth, depth and quality of APRA’s superannuation data collection. APRA has released a total of seven topic papers as part of phase 1 of the project, which looks at the breadth of its reporting
The FAQs published by APRA cover the final four topic papers from phase 1 of the project, addressing reporting in relation to expenses, asset allocation, insurance arrangements and fees and costs.
(See ASFA Action issues 773, 738, 736, 732 and 727 for further details about the project.)
COVID-19 Coronavirus: early release of super – APRA data
APRA has made its twenty-seventh weekly publication of industry-level data from its early release initiative data collection.
The data covers applications made from inception of the early release initiative on 20 April. The data shows that from 20 April to 25 October:
- payments totalling $34.6 billion had been made, with an average payment of $7,660
- 3.3 million ‘initial’ applications had been received, with an average application amount of $7,400
- 1.3 million ‘repeat’ applications had been received, with an average application amount of $8,346
- funds were taking an average of 3.3 business days to pay an application, with 95 per cent of applications paid within five business days.
APRA has also published the twenty-sixth tranche of fund-level statistics from its early release data collection, revealing the number and value of the payments processed by each fund, as well as the time taken to make payments.
ASFA REGULATORY WATCHLIST
ASFA’s Regulatory Watchlist (ARW) tracks developments in Legislation, inquiries, consultations
and other regulatory announcements relevant to superannuation.
