Law Council of Australia

Business Law Section

Scams—Mandatory Industry Codes

This submission concerning the consultation paper titled “Scams—Mandatory Industry Codes”, which was released by Treasury on 30 November 2023 (the Consultation Paper), is made by the Financial Services Committee (the FS Committee) and the Media and Communications Committee (the MC Committee) of the Business Law Section (the BLS) of the Law Council of Australia. 

Key Points

The key matters the BLS wishes to raise with respect to the design of a future scams prevention framework are as follows:

  1. the proposed framework would likely be more effective in combatting scams if the following sectors were also within its remit:

  1. online marketplaces;
  2. crypto-currency exchanges;
  3. superannuation funds;
  4. payment services providers;
  5. securities brokers; and
  6. managed investment funds;

  1. the potential involvement of multiple regulators needs to be carefully considered;
  2. the breadth of the proposed definition of “scam” may be problematic;
  3. the sharing of information will play a critically important role and is relevant beyond the sectors the proposed framework seeks to cover;
  4. clear and unambiguous regulatory guidance will need to be developed and disseminated in a timely fashion to prepare the regulated population for the new regime; and
  5. the chosen external dispute resolution (EDR) model must be developed with due care and attention to the flow-on consequences.

In reviewing the framework, which consists of four sector-specific codes and standards:

  1. the FS Committee has focused its attention on banks and the financial sector, and has made some sector-specific points in this submission; and
  2. the MC Committee has focused on telecommunications providers and other communications networks and service providers.

Read full submission below.

Last Updated on 14/02/2024

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