Digital Seller Underperformance Policy

Fatima Payman

I move:

That—

(a) there be laid on the table by the Minister for Finance or, if the Minister for Finance is a member of the House of Representatives, the Senate minister representing the Minister for Finance, as soon as practicable after the end of each three-month period commencing 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October, a statement setting out, for that period:

(i) the number of Serious Underperformance Reports investigated under the Digital Seller Underperformance Policy,

(ii) the number of times a finding of Confirmed Serious Underperformance (CSU) was made,

(iii) the name and date of inclusion in the CSU Register of all sellers who became registered in the CSU Register,

(iv) the name and date of change of status of all sellers who had their CSU status changed to historical in the CSU Register, and

(v) the name and date of change of status of all sellers who had their CSU status archived; and

(b) this order is of continuing effect.

Katy Gallagher

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Slade Brockman

Leave is granted for one minute.

Katy Gallagher

The government does not support this motion. We support scrutiny of the Digital Seller Underperformance Policy, which we brought in, and we'll continue to respond to questions on its operation. The motion would require the names of businesses, including small businesses, to be tabled in the Senate. This would effectively create a 'name and shame' register, which could cause significant reputational damage before businesses have had the opportunity to work with government to improve their performance under the scheme. Seventy-two per cent of digital marketplace sellers are small businesses, and 67 per cent of all digital and ICT sellers across all panels are small businesses. This policy was designed with safeguards for businesses that want to do the right thing and improve their performance. These safeguards give business a chance to remediate issues and improve them, while this motion would require them to be named, and named permanently, in the Senate.

Slade Brockman

The question is that notice of motion No. 705 in the name of Senator Payman be agreed to.