Bill
Financial Regulator Assessment Authority Bill 2021
passed, as at 2021-06-29. Treasury portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Treasury
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2021-05-13
- second reading — 2021-05-13
- second reading — 2021-05-25
- second reading — 2021-05-26
- second reading — 2021-05-26
- third reading — 2021-05-26
- introduced — 2021-06-15
- second reading — 2021-06-15
- second reading — 2021-06-22
- third reading — 2021-06-22
- other — 2021-06-23
- passed — 2021-06-23
- royal assent — 2021-06-29
Divisions
- The majority voted in favour of a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/debate/?id=2021-05-26.32.4) "*that the words proposed to be omitted stand part of the question.*" In other words, they voted to keep the usual [second reading motion](https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/how-parliament-works/bills-and-laws/making-a-law-in-the-australian-parliament/) unchanged. A second reading motion is "*that the bill be read a second time,*" which is parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill. — 2021-05-26, House of Representatives: affirmative, ayes 76, noes 68
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?id=2021-06-22.294.1) to keep clause 23 in the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted against a motion "*that clause 23 stand as printed*". This means that clause 23 will now be removed from the bill, which will then return to the House of Representatives for them to decide whether they agree with its removal. This division is closely related to the amendments voted on in the [next division](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/divisions/senate/2021-06-22/33). ### What is clause 23? > *23 Departmental member* > > *(1) The Departmental member is:* > >> *(a) the person nominated by the Secretary under subsection (2); or* >> >> *(b) if there is no such nomination—the Secretary.* > > *(2) The Secretary may, in writing, nominate an SES employee in the Department (other than a staff member) to be the Departmental member.* > > *(3) The office of Departmental member is not a public office for the purposes of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 .* — 2021-06-22, Senate: negative, ayes 27, noes 29
- The majority voted in favour of [amendments](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2021-06-22.296.1) introduced by the Australian Greens Party, which means they were successful. The bill, with these amendments, will now be sent back to the House of Representatives for their consideration. ### What do these amendments do? Tasmanian Senator [Nick McKim](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/tasmania/nick_mckim) (Greens) tried to get permission to explain what these amendments were about, but [he was refused](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2021-06-22.294.2), which makes it much harder for us. Looking at the wording of the amendments, it seems their purpose is to remove the concepts of "appointed member" and "departmental member" from the bill and replace them with the more general term "member". The [original bill](https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6701_first-reps%2F0001;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6701_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0) included the following definitions for these terms: * **appointed member** means a member other than the Departmental member. * **member** means a member of the Authority and includes the Chair and the Departmental member. * **Departmental member**: see section 23. Section 23 was: > *(1) The Departmental member is:* > >> *(a) the person nominated by the Secretary under subsection (2); or* >> >> *(b) if there is no such nomination—the Secretary.* > > *(2) The Secretary may, in writing, nominate an SES employee in the Department (other than a staff member) to be the Departmental member.* > > *(3) The office of Departmental member is not a public office for the purposes of the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973 .* So it appears that the purpose of this amendment is to ensure that the powers given to members in this bill can be performed by any "*member of the Authority and includes the Chair and the Departmental member*" as opposed to having to — 2021-06-22, Senate: affirmative, ayes 28, noes 26
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2021-05-13.
This bill is part of a package that implements recommendations from the Financial Services Royal Commission to create a new body that regularly reviews the performance of APRA and ASIC.
The bill establishes the Authority, sets out how its members are chosen and how it makes decisions, and requires APRA and ASIC to hand over information when asked.
It also makes it a criminal offence to use or share protected information given to the Authority without authorisation.
- Creates the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority.
- Requires APRA and ASIC to cooperate and provide information to the Authority.
- Sets out appointment and decision-making rules for the Authority.
- Makes unauthorised use or disclosure of protected information a criminal offence.
APRA, ASIC, and anyone who handles protected information provided to the Authority.
Sources
em
billhome
frl act