Australian Law Reform Commission: Suggested program of work released
On 2 December, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) released a report — The future of law reform: A suggested program of work 2020-2025 — suggesting (among other things) that a future law reform inquiry could look at simplifying and rationalising financial services laws in line with Financial Services Royal Commission recommendations 7.3 and 7.4.
[Note: Financial Services Royal Commission recommendation 7.3 recommends that as far as possible, exceptions and qualifications to generally applicable norms of conduct in legislation governing financial services entities should be eliminated. Recommendation 7.4 recommends that as far as possible, legislation governing financial services entities should identify expressly what fundamental norms of behaviour are being pursued when particular and detailed rules are made about a particular subject matter. Commissioner Hayne explained in his Final Report that the recommendations are intended to ensure that the law's intent is met. In making the recommendations, Commissioner Hayne cautioned that the task of simplification 'will not be easy' but 'will require examination of how the existing law fits together and identification of the policies given effect by the law’s various provisions. Only once this detailed work is done can decisions be made about how those policies can be given better and simpler legislative effect. Implementing the recommendations I have made cannot wait for that larger task to begin, let alone end'.
Details
Chapter 2 of the report outlines five suggested areas of focus for future law reform: 1) automated decision making, 2) principle-based regulation of financial services, 3) defamation,4) press freedom and public sector whistleblowers, and 5) legal structures for social enterprises.
Principle-based regulation of financial services: The ALRC suggests that 'A future law reform inquiry could consider whether reforms to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), and any other Commonwealth law should be made in order to simplify and rationalise the regulation of financial services, consistent with recommendations 7.3 and 7.4 of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. The ALRC suggests a time frame of 36 months, with potential for interim reports on discrete aspects'.
Pay day lending: Other 'significant topics' highlighted in the report include (among others): regulation of debt management services, ‘buy now pay later’ services, or services targeting people at risk of financial hardship and the rights of creditors of an insolvent trustee, particularly when trust assets may be insufficient to meet creditors’ claims.
[Note: On 2 December, Senators Griff and Mcallister introduced a private members Bill — National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Lease Reforms) Bill 2019 (No 2) — into the Senate proposing to strengthen the regulation of Small Amount Credit Contracts (SACC) and consumer leases. The explanatory memorandum states that the Bill 'replicates word for word the Government’s Exposure Draft legislation released on 23 October 2017'. This is covered in Governance News 04/12/2019.]
[Source: ALRC report: The future of law reform: A suggested program of work 2020-2025]
