Australia puts more law on the statute book

Chris Hamblin

12 February 2020

The Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response - Protecting Consumers (2019 Measures)) Bill 2019 - presumably still so called because it has not yet received Royal Assent - fulfils four recommendations from the Hayne Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

These include the following.

Recommendations 1.2 and 1.3 - requiring mortgage brokers to act in the best interests of consumers when providing consumer credit assistance; reforming mortgage brokers' remuneration by requiring the value of upfront commissions to be linked to the amounts drawn down by borrowers instead of the loan amounts; banning campaign and volume-based commissions and payments; and capping 'soft dollar' benefits.
Recommendation 4.2 - ensuring that the consumer protection provisions of the financial services law apply to funeral expenses policies.
Recommendation 4.7 - banning unfair contract terms in standard insurance contracts.

The Coalition Government has now kept 24 promises that it made to the Royal Commission and has "substantially progressed" a further 35. It claims to be taking action on all 76 recommendations contained in the Report of the Royal Commission and, in some cases, wants to go further.