THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics today presented its Third Report on reforming the Australian banking sector.

The report builds on the suite of important reforms previously recommended by the committee, which have been broadly adopted by the Government.

Key reforms to date include putting in place a one-stop shop for consumer complaints, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority; a regulated Banking Executive Accountability Regime; and, new powers and resources for the ACCC to investigate competition issues in the setting of interest rates.

The Government also adopted the committee's recommendations to establish an open data regime and change the regulatory requirement for bank start-ups in order to encourage more competition in the sector.

The Committee’s Third Report makes the following recommendations to Government:

• If the banks do not act by 1 April 2018, regulatory action should be taken to ensure that merchants have the choice of how to process “tap and go” payments on dual network cards.  At present merchants are forced to process these transactions through schemes such as Visa and MasterCard rather than eftpos.  It is estimated that this forced processing costs merchants hundreds of millions of dollars in additional annual fees at present;
• The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, as a part of its inquiry into residential mortgage products, should assess the repricing of interest-only mortgages that occurred in June 2017;
• The Government should introduce legislation to mandate the banks’ participation in Comprehensive Credit Reporting as soon as possible; and
• The Attorney-General should review the major banks’ threshold transaction reporting obligations in light of the issues identified in the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre’s (AUSTRAC) case against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Committee Chair David Coleman MP said "the Committee continues to hold the major banks to account during these regular hearings.  We look forward to the Government’s response to the Committee’s new recommendations."

The report can be accessed from the Committee’s website. 

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters will hold its first public hearing on matters relating to Section 44 of Australia’s Constitution tomorrow.

Committee Chair Senator Linda Reynolds said the hearing will provide the Committee with the opportunity to consider the complexities surrounding Section 44 of the Constitution and the types of possible action that can lead to greater stability in our Parliamentary system.

“Australians need to be assured all members of parliament are constitutionally eligible to serve and they must also have confidence in the processes leading to parliamentarians’ election,” Senator Reynolds said.

The Terms of Reference are available on the Committee’s website.

Submissions are now open and will close on 9 February 2018.  

The Committee will hear evidence from the Australian Electoral Commission, the Attorney General’s Department, and professors Anne Twomey, Graeme Orr and George Williams AO.

Public hearing details: 9.00 a.m., Friday, 8 December 2017, Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live

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THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts today presented its report on the Australian film and television industry. The committee has made 13 recommendations to ensure the future growth and sustainability of this sector.

The key recommendations are:

• a single harmonised producer offset of 30% for all Australian screen productions which is a 50% increase in the current rebate for television programs and non-cinematic features;
• an increase in the location offset from 16.5% to 30% to ensure that Australia can effectively compete for large-scale international productions;
• that subscription video on demand companies invest part of their revenue earned in Australia in new Australian content;
• that children’s content quotas be reformed in light of current viewing trends but continue to require quality Australian programs for children to be available across all platforms, particularly live-action drama;
• that the Government consider replacing all or part of the current hours-based quotas for new children’s content with a contestable fund to create quality Australian children’s programs into the future;
• that a minimum hours-based quota for first release children’s content be included in the ABC charter and that SBS show a minimum of 50% Australian content across all of its channels;
• that 10% of Screen Australia’s funding be earmarked for productions filmed outside of the Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan areas;
• that the Government remove the unnecessary red-tape obligation to consult the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance before permitting a foreign actor to work in Australia.

The Chair of the committee, Luke Howarth MP, said, "Australia’s film and television industry makes very important cultural and economic contributions to the nation. These proposed reforms will greatly enhance the growth and sustainability of this industry into the future.

"Technological advances have significantly changed the way Australians now access their screen content and the policy settings need to be updated to reflect this," added Mr Howarth.

The report can be accessed from the Committee’s website. 

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THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has tabled its report on the Commonwealth Performance Framework.

Committee Chair Senator Dean Smith said that improving the Commonwealth performance framework, to improve line of sight between the use of public resources and the outcomes achieved by Commonwealth entities, has been a long-term focus of the Committee.

“To build on momentum in the implementation of the Commonwealth performance framework, the Committee has recommended that the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 be amended to enable mandatory annual audits of performance statements by the Auditor-General, with Commonwealth entities to be consulted on the implementation timeframe,” Senator Smith said.

“The Parliament and the Australian public would then receive the same assurance on non-financial performance reporting as on financial reporting, where an independent audit is mandatory.”

The Committee has also recommended that:

• the Australian National Audit Office considers conducting an audit of one complete Commonwealth performance reporting cycle;
• the Australian Government amends the PGPA Rule and guidance to clarify the functions and charter of Commonwealth entity audit committees to reflect their role in assurance of the appropriateness of performance reporting;
• the four audited Commonwealth entities from Audit Report No. 54 on 2016-17 Corporate Planning report back on how their senior management teams are working to further embed the corporate planning requirements in future cycles;
• the Department of Finance undertakes a more comprehensive monitoring and evaluation program for the ongoing implementation of the Commonwealth performance framework;
• the Australian Public Service Commission conducts a review on whether non-financial performance reporting and evaluation requires strengthening as a training and research discipline in consultation with other relevant agencies, and Finance reports back on progress in developing capacity training in this area; and
• Finance reports back on Commonwealth entity progress in implementing a more mature approach to risk management and ‘joined up’ government.

The Commonwealth performance framework, established under the PGPA Act, requires Commonwealth agencies to produce corporate plans, Portfolio Budget Statements and annual reports, including annual performance statements.

The Committee’s inquiry was based on the following Audit Reports:

• No. 58 (2016-17), Implementation of the Annual Performance Statements Requirements
• No. 6 (2016-17), Corporate Planning in the Australian Public Sector
• No. 31 (2015-16), Administration of Higher Education Loan Program Debt and Repayments

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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