Australia: Consumer Data Right legislation could delay open banking

The Consumer Data Right Bill is needed for banks to be able to transfer their customers’ personal data to another institution, a cornerstone of the open banking initiative. Assistant Minister for Financial Services Jane Hume said the legislation, known as the Consumer Data Right Bill, needed to be passed by the end of July 2019, when Parliament goes on its winter break for two weeks to mid August – to allow enough lead time to implement the changes.

Open banking was originally scheduled for roll out in July 2019, but instead, the big four banks, in partnership with the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) and data standards body Data61, will conduct a pilot programme to test the performance, reliability and security of the open banking system.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Consumer Data Right) Bill 2019 was introduced and read in Parliament on 13 February, but lapsed when the federal parliament was dissolved on 11 April 2019. The Bill is expected to be re-introduced into Parliament in July or August. The government has indicated that rapid implementation of the Consumer Data Right regime remains a key objective