Treasury Laws Amendment (Payments System Modernisation) Bill 2025

The majority voted against an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" (parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill). This means the usual motion will remain unchanged.

Amendment text

That all words after “That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

“whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) notes:

(a) that the Bill implements recommendations of the 2021 Payments System Review, first initiated by the Coalition, to modernise the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 ;

(b) that under the Bill, key decisions of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Treasurer – including designating payment systems, imposing access regimes, and setting standards – will not be subject to parliamentary disallowance; and

(c) concerns that the Reserve Bank’s narrow mandate does not allow for appropriate consideration of impacts on competition and innovation, and may not be suited to regulating fast-changing industries like fintech and digital payments; and

(2) calls on the Government to ensure that major regulatory decisions made by the Reserve Bank and the Treasurer under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 are subject to disallowance to provide an appropriate parliamentary oversight mechanism”.