Of the six Financial Services Royal Commission recommendations the government planned to consult on and legislate by the end of 2019: one is legislated, a Bill implementing four recommendations has been introduced and consultation on the remaining recommendation has commenced. Another Bill proposing to implement 'additional commitments' to strengthen ASIC has also been introduced.

The government's implementation timeline

In August 2019, the government released a roadmap setting out timeframes for introducing the necessary legislation to implement the Financial Services Royal Commission's recommendations.

The roadmap committed the government to consult on/introduce legislation to implement six recommendations (1.2, 1.3, 2.4, 4.2, 4.7 and 4.8) by the end of 2019.

Progress against this timeline

• To date, of the six recommendations, only recommendation 2.4 (Ending Grandfathered Commissions for Financial Advisers) has been legislated (Treasury Laws Amendment (Ending Grandfathered Conflicted Remuneration) Act 2019). Under the legislation, grandfathered conflicted remuneration will be banned from 1 January 2021 and product issuers will be required to rebate the amounts to consumers.
• Legislation to implement a further four recommendations — 1.2 (Mortgage broker best interests duty),1.3 (mortgage broker remuneration), 4.2 (removing the exemptions for funeral expenses policies) and 4.7 (application of unfair contract terms provisions to insurance contracts) — Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response— Protecting Consumers (2019 Measures)) Bill 2019 — was introduced into the House of Representatives on 28 November.
• On 29 November, the government released a draft Bill and regulations for consultation proposing to implement recommendation 4.8 (removal of the insurance claims handling exemption). Consultation will close on 10 January (after Parliament rises for 2019 on 5 December). Both houses are scheduled to resume sitting on 4 February 2020.

'Additional commitments': Legislating stronger powers for ASIC

In addition, the government's roadmap said that the government planned to implement a number of 'additional commitments' to strengthen the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) (and implement the ASIC Enforcement Taskforce review's recommendations) by the end of 2019.
Legislation to implement these commitments — Financial Sector Reform (Hayne Royal Commission Response— Stronger Regulators (2019 Measures)) Bill 2019 — was introduced into the House of representatives on 28 November.