The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg says new laws introduced into Parliament last week will impose greater powers on Australian consumers by allowing them to compare and switch between products and services more easily.
Mr Frydenberg said the ‘Consumer Data Right’ reforms would also encourage competition between service providers, aimed at leading to better prices for customers and more innovative products and services.
“It will first apply to the banking sector, followed by the energy sector and with the telecommunications sector proposed to follow,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“This initiative has already seen major improvements in the levels of transparency over the terms and conditions of a wide range of banking products, with three of the four major banks voluntarily launching the first stage of the Consumer Data Right on 1 July.”
He said that the next stage, due in February next year, would give consumers greater access to information that banks held on them, and the power to require those banks to provide safe and secure access to that information to trusted third parties.
“Within the regime, consumers will have control over what data will be shared, with whom and for what purposes,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“Improved consumer control over data will support better price comparison services, taking into account people’s actual circumstances, and promote more convenient switching between products and providers.”
He said improved access to data would also enable the development of better and more convenient products and services, customised to individuals’ needs.
