Corporate plan

Australian Financial Security Authority Corporate Plan 2024–25

AFSA's Corporate Plan 2024-25 sets out our purpose, key activities, operating environment and how we’ll measure our performance. It outlines the factors that influence our work and planning, how we collaborate and engage with others, and our commitment to building our agency’s capabilities.

Message from the Chief Executive

I am pleased to present the Australian Financial Security Authority Corporate Plan 2024–25.

Our vision is a strong credit system for the Australian community. We work to ensure confidence in Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems.

These systems play an important role in Australia’s $3.6 trillion credit system. The Australian Financial Security Authority oversees personal insolvency liabilities of $17.3 billion and personal property securities with an economic value of $450 billion – about 20% of Australian GDP.

As the regulatory steward of these systems, we must respond to economic challenges and shifts in our operating environment.

We also work in partnership with the Australian Federal Police and other agencies to support the Australian Government in disrupting and dismantling organised crime. We assist in administering Australia’s proceeds of crime scheme, managing assets valued at over $580 million.

This plan outlines the measures we will take to maintain and build our regulatory effectiveness. It focuses our efforts on our 5 strategic priorities: regulatory stewardship, impact and influence, workforce of the future, digital innovation, and leadership and culture.

These priorities position us to respond to current and future challenges and will ensure we continue to deliver social and economic value for the Australian community.

Statement of preparation

As Accountable Authority of the Australian Financial Security Authority, I present the Corporate Plan 2024–25. This plan covers reporting periods 2024–25 to 2027–28 and has been prepared in accordance with paragraph 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

Tim Beresford
Chief Executive
Inspector-General in Bankruptcy
 

Overview

The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) is an executive agency in the Attorney-General’s portfolio responsible for maintaining confidence in Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems. We also perform an important function in managing criminal assets.

Our core business functions include:

• managing the application of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and the Bankruptcy (Estate Charges) Act 1997 through oversight of Australia’s personal insolvency framework, including provision of Official Trustee, registry and information services
• managing the application of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 through administration of the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR), a national online register of security interests in personal property that provides information to help protect consumers when they are buying personal property
• managing confiscated money, liquidation of forfeited assets and controlling the Confiscated Assets Account in accordance with orders made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Our Corporate Plan provides an understanding of how we do this, through our purpose, activities, operating environment and performance measures. It outlines the factors that influence our work, how we collaborate and engage with others, and our commitment to building our agency’s capabilities.

Under the Commonwealth Performance Framework, our Corporate Plan is part of a planning and reporting cycle that guides our work. It covers the forward 4 years and is updated annually.

The Portfolio Budget Statements set out our proposed allocation of resources and outcomes on an annual basis – what we are going to do.

The Corporate Plan is our primary planning document describing our role, the key activities we undertake and how we measure our performance – how we are going to do it.

The Annual Report and Performance Statements provide an overview of our activities, and non-financial and financial performance for the year under review – what we achieved.

Snapshot

Our agency

The Australian Financial Security Authority is an executive agency in the Attorney-General’s portfolio.

Our purpose

Our purpose is to ensure confidence in Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems.

Our role

We are responsible for supporting Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems, and criminal assets management, which:

• provide Australian consumers and businesses with tools to manage financial risk
• contribute to investor and business confidence
• provide enhanced access to finance within the economy
• enable the dispersal of proceeds of crime to the Australian community.

In delivering these functions, we create an environment in which businesses and the community can properly assess financial risk and make informed financial decisions.

Personal insolvency and trustee services

If an individual is unable to pay their debts when they are due, they are insolvent. Once a person becomes insolvent, they have several options available to them under Australia’s personal insolvency framework, the most well-known being bankruptcy. Other formal options include a debt agreement or a personal insolvency agreement.

AFSA’s role is to ensure the personal insolvency system operates in a way that:

• provides a fair and orderly process for sorting out the financial affairs of people who are unable to pay their debts
• allows clients to receive timely referrals, trustworthy advice and help that is tailored to their individual circumstances, particularly if they are vulnerable
• ensures assets in an estate are managed properly to maximise both returns to creditors and realisation of any balance to debtors
• quickly deals with those who seek to avoid their obligations and duties to others.

We do this through regulation of industry professionals (bankruptcy trustees and debt agreement administrators), debtors and creditors as well as the administration of bankruptcies, debt agreements and personal insolvency agreements.

Enabling legislation

We are responsible for administering the following Acts and associated regulations:

• Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Bankruptcy Act)
• Bankruptcy (Estate Charges) Act 1997
• Bankruptcy Regulations 2021.

We also manage confiscated assets in accordance with orders made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and other Commonwealth legislation.

Personal property securities system

The most significant component of the personal property securities system is the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). The PPSR is managed by AFSA and is the official government register of security interests in personal property, that is, property other than land, buildings, and fixtures to land.

The PPSR is the only federated and fully digitised secured transactions register in the world.

The PPSR serves as a publicly available noticeboard, enabling for example, purchasers to identify whether a security interest is registered over personal property. For people who are lending money to someone, the PPSR can be used to identify if that individual has security interests (such as money owing) registered against their personal property.

Security interests are created by an agreement that property can be taken if a loan or other obligation is not repaid. This secured finance is particularly important in an insolvency, as registration on the PPSR establishes an order of priority for the recovery of assets or funds where there are competing interests.

By enabling creditors to safeguard their security interests, the PPSR supports the flow of credit and consumers and businesses in making informed commercial decisions.

We provide support for, and regulation of, those who use the PPSR as well as make sure that it is managed responsibly, is available to use, and contains information that is reliable.

Our aim is to create a positive impact for consumers and businesses by making the system as accessible and useable as possible, particularly for those experiencing, or at risk of, vulnerability.

Enabling legislation

We are responsible for administering the following Act and associated regulations:

• Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPS Act)
• Personal Property Securities Regulations 2010.

Criminal assets management

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 allows proceeds of crime to be confiscated, forfeited to the Commonwealth and then used to benefit the Australian community.

AFSA works in partnership with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and other key agencies to support the Australian Government in disrupting and dismantling organised crime.

We support the OT in its custody and control, on behalf of the Commonwealth, of assets that have been restrained by the AFP. AFSA plays a critical role in supporting the OT’s preservation of the value of assets, acting in a way that delivers the greatest commercial and social outcomes at the point of disposal (or return) of confiscated assets.

We also assist the OT to sell or realise assets after they are forfeited. Funds collected through this process are accessed by the government to reinvest in local crime prevention, law enforcement, drug treatment and diversionary measures across Australia.

Enabling legislation

Our role is defined by the following Act and associated regulations:

• Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
• Proceeds of Crime Regulations 2019.

Our vision

Our vision is a strong credit system for the Australian community.

Our holistic approach to regulation improves access to credit and increases financial stability, contributing to economic and social outcomes. We anticipate and respond to our operating environment to safeguard a strong credit system for Australia now and for the future.

Strategic direction

A strong credit system creates an environment where creditors can be confident in lending to businesses and individuals, leading to business growth, more jobs, and increased spending.

At the same time, people are provided with a safety net for dealing with unmanageable debt. This means they can still access credit to pay for transport, education or emergency expenses and are provided with the opportunity for a fresh start.

The role of government is to provide a healthy system that supports the flow of credit and allows individuals and entities to make financial decisions with confidence. Put simply, we support people to interact positively with the credit system.

Constant and unpredictable change is becoming more normal. While we navigate through uncertainty, as regulatory stewards, our work must always consider the future of the systems that we oversee.

It is therefore crucial that we take a holistic approach and continuously adapt our practices to meet the evolving needs of the Australian economy, and the Australian community.

Strategic priorities

We have identified 5 strategic priorities that we will invest in over the next 4 years to advance our vision.

These strategic priorities support us to enhance our regulatory effectiveness across our key activities.

1. Regulatory stewardship – We demonstrate a strong and balanced regulatory posture, and adopt a collaborative, whole-of-system, and intelligence-led approach to regulation.
2. Impact and influence – We amplify our effectiveness through a strong and trusted voice, visible action, and meaningful insights.
3. Workforce of the future – Our people are equipped with the right mindsets, skillsets, and toolsets to deliver our business into the future.
4. Digital innovation – We use simple, secure, and smart technology and data to streamline and enhance operations and optimise client experience.
5. Leadership and culture – Our success is underpinned by a distinct culture, cohesive leadership, and values that are evident in the behaviours of our people.

Key activities

We ensure confidence in Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems through regulatory oversight and enforcement, and regulatory administration and practice.

Our key activities incorporate the Ministerial Statement of Expectations and are aligned with AFSA’s Statement of Intent.

Regulatory oversight and enforcement

AFSA is responsible for the implementation, regulation and enforcement of bankruptcy and personal property securities legislation. We regulate the behaviours and practice of registered trustees, the Official Trustee, registered debt agreement administrators, debtors, creditors and PPSR users.

Our Regulatory Strategy sets out our approach to regulatory stewardship and an annual Regulatory Action Statement provides information on how we are implementing the Regulatory Strategy.

These documents provide our regulated population and the community with a clear idea of the way we will regulate and the actions that we might take.

AFSA’s bell curve model (Figure 1) highlights how risks are spread across the personal insolvency and personal property securities systems. These form the 3 enduring regulatory priorities that we address on an ongoing basis:

• system vulnerability
• system efficiency
• system misuse.

We also monitor our regulatory environment to determine emerging harms that may undermine confidence in Australia’s credit system. These regulatory priorities and emerging harms require a layered and nuanced approach, combining education and outreach, compliance and enforcement action.

What is stewardship?

In the context of regulation, regulatory stewardship is the monitoring and care of regulatory systems for which an organisation, such as AFSA, has policy or operational responsibilities. The goal of stewardship is to ensure that regulatory systems remain fit for purpose over the long term, which includes looking ahead and providing advice on future challenges and opportunities.

An effective system relies on regulated professionals that are competent, compliant, consistent, and trustworthy. These are positions of trust and authority, which brings responsibility. AFSA holds regulated professionals to a high account, commensurate with that responsibility and the expectations of stakeholders.

Maintaining a balanced system is one of the most important aspects of good regulation.

We are committed to ensuring that people experiencing, or at risk of, vulnerability are supported, while monitoring for, and taking decisive action against, those who misuse our systems.

Regardless of their relationship to AFSA, the people and organisations we deal with will experience fairness and transparency in our communications and decision making.

Each of these activities directly map to our enduring regulatory priorities as shown in Figure 2.
 

Our performance in regulatory oversight and enforcement is measured through the following performance measures:

• Misuse in the personal insolvency system
• Misuse of the PPSR
• Perceived regulatory effectiveness
• Vulnerability targeted initiatives.

Refer to Measuring our performance for further details.

Regulatory administration and practice

AFSA’s core work also includes:

• providing information and supporting clients to make registrations or searches on the PPSR through the AFSA Service Centre
• administering bankruptcies and other personal insolvency arrangements when a registered practitioner or other administrator is not appointed, and
• managing and disposing of criminal assets on behalf of the Commonwealth.

Our delivery of these functions combines industry knowledge, legal and financial acumen, and technology to provide the right services, at the right time, and through the right channels.

We have a range of different clients and stakeholders, which requires us to tailor our approach. In many circumstances we are also required to balance the competing interests of clients and stakeholders (e.g. debtors and creditors, secured party groups and grantors) in a way that is transparent, equitable and in accordance with relevant legislation.

Most people who interact with us simply need access to clear information, and effective systems and processes to get good outcomes. Regardless of their relationship to us, people that interact with AFSA can expect that:

• our services are accessible
• our staff act professionally
• they will be respected
• their data is safe.

Additionally, our people and processes are considerate of those that are experiencing hardship, vulnerability, or distress. This is reflected in the design of our website and published materials.

AFSA seeks to understand and anticipate client and stakeholder needs and encourages the community to engage with us early and often.

Each of these activities directly map to our enduring regulatory priorities as shown in Figure 3.

Our performance in regulatory administration and practice is measured through the following performance measures:

• Vulnerability targeted initiatives
• Regulatory client experience
• Register availability (NPII and PPSR)
• PPSR searches-to-new registrations ratio
• Criminal assets management efficiency.

Refer to Measuring our performance for further details.

Operating context

Our operating context comprises environment, capabilities, risk oversight and management, and stakeholder engagement.

Environment

Thinking about our operating environment and the future puts us in a better position to make decisions today. Over the next 4 years, we anticipate that there will be big impacts to our operating environment that will influence achievement of our purpose.

Economic outlook

After a few months of heightened uncertainties, the June quarter 2024 economic metrics indicate that the soft-landing scenario for the Australian economy by mid-2025 has got back on track, although inflationary risks remain. This scenario features inflation reducing to a 2–3% range and the economy returning to historical average growths.

Latest inflation trends have brought the cost-of-living story back into focus. The quarterly inflation for June 2024 is in line with the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) expectation, indicating a generally downward trajectory since late 2022. However, the trajectory has been up and down since early 2024, with the latest inflation (3.8%) being higher than that of the prior quarter (3.6%). Much of the national price growth has been driven by essential services such as insurance and financial services, health, and education. As such, it may be difficult to further contain domestic consumption to bring prices down.

The seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate increased to 4.1% in June 2024, a rise from 4.0% in May, indicating that the labour market condition has weakened. Unemployment is expected to rise over the next 12 months as the labour market adjusts back to the average trend, after a prolonged period of historically low unemployment.

High interest rates, driven by the RBA’s tightened monetary policy, have slowed down credit demand and thus aggregate credit growth, averaging around 5% annually since 2023. Stagnant credit growth is expected to continue as the cash rate will likely stay at the current level for some time.

Strong net migration inflows in 2023 have cushioned the economy to some extent from the rapidly slowing household consumption trend and have also contributed to the booming cycle of the domestic housing and rental markets. Net migration has since stabilised to the normal range.

Cost of living, economic and credit growths have direct implications for personal insolvencies and PPSR activities. Asset market trends, particularly the housing market trends, have important implications for AFSA’s disposal of criminal assets, which is a critical part of our criminal assets management program. As such, AFSA will closely monitor trends impacting our operational, regulatory, and service delivery activities.

Australia’s credit system profile

Amid the elevated level of household financial stress, more severe forms of financial stress such as personal loan default rate and personal insolvency have been rising but the pace has been moderate. Though the default rate for mortgages has been rising rapidly over recent quarters, it remains below the COVID-19 levels.

The ongoing cost-of-living pressures have been affecting Australian households unevenly. Amid intense budget pressures coming from steep price increases in essential products and services, many homeowners (with mortgages) have been able to maintain their saving base. This is evidenced in the growing extra mortgage payment base, which has exceeded the pre-COVID average and reached over 2% of household disposable income in March 2024. Meanwhile, renters and first-home buyers have seen their saving base quickly depleted. This is reflected in recent reductions in the new first-home buyer lending share of total mortgages, from 30% earlier in 2024 to 28% as of May 2024. Household financial constraint is also reflected in rising loans in arrears for high loan to- value ratio mortgages which tend to be associated with first-home buyers.

Since late 2022, personal insolvencies, largely comprised of personal loans, have started trending up from a historical low base (as shown in Figure 4). The pace of increase in personal insolvencies is anticipated to remain moderate over the next 12-18 months, given the stable trend in personal loans in arrears. However, the pace of increase may pick up if cost of living stays elevated for a prolong period, severely impacting vulnerable households such as renters and, to some extent, first-home buyers.

Amid the current low aggregate credit growth trend, non-mortgage secured lending activities have been increasing faster than the system since early 2023. The average annualised growth rate for nonmortgage secured lending activities is 15% over March 2023 – March 2024, compared with 5% growth in total credit. Movements in non-mortgage secured lending activities have closely aligned with movements in PPSR searches and new registrations (as shown in Figure 5). This is because non-mortgage secured loans are the credit type whose securities are registered on the PPSR.

Government reforms and focus

Personal insolvency

In July 2023, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services released its final report on Corporate Insolvency in Australia, including 28 key recommendations. The report followed an inquiry into corporate insolvency in Australia which received 78 written submissions and held 5 public hearings to gain public feedback. The Committee’s key finding was that there is need for an independent and comprehensive review of Australia’s insolvency law, including both corporate and personal insolvency.

The Government is considering its response to the report.

In the interim, AFSA continues to work in partnership with the Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) in its ongoing efforts to improve the personal insolvency system. This includes the identification of 4 pressure points and potential key areas for reform to progress in the short term:

• increasing the bankruptcy threshold value from $10,000
• increasing the period for a debtor to respond to a bankruptcy notice from 21 days
• reducing the period for which a discharged bankrupt is recorded on the NPII
• amending the Bankruptcy Act so that Part IX debt agreements are not taken to be an ‘act of bankruptcy’.

AGD is currently consulting on the Minimal Asset Procedure which is a proposed alternative personal insolvency for people with low amounts of debts and no other way to repay. AFSA is sharing our expertise with AGD to inform the development of a solution which meets policy objectives and will maximise the stewardship of our regulatory systems.

We recognise that a comprehensive review of Australia’s insolvency system and any resulting reform process will require a significant investment of time and resources. As such, we are strengthening our data and insights capability and enhancing our position as a trusted advisor.

Personal property securities

In September 2023, the government proposed a reform package, which includes amendments to the PPS Act and new PPS Regulations, in response to the final report of the 2015 statutory review of the PPS Act (the Whittaker Review). The overarching objective of the Whittaker Review recommendations, and subsequent Government Response is to simplify the personal property securities framework.

AFSA is currently working with AGD on implementing the Government Response. While any changes to the PPSR are dependent on the final legislative reform package, we are working together to scope impacts and develop a transition and implementation plan. This will include an appropriate transitional period, comprehensive communications, education and support materials for users.

Criminal assets management

AFSA expects the volume, value and complexity of criminal assets under its custody and control to continue to increase in coming years.

In December 2023, the Australian Federal Police (AFP)-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce achieved a milestone of restraining $1 billion in criminal assets, continuing their mission to deprive criminals of their illegal wealth and to stop them using the proceeds of crime to fund further criminal ventures.

Criminal asset confiscation remains a key operational priority for the AFP. AFSA is making a deliberate effort to uplift the resources and capability of our criminal assets management function in direct response.

Technological and digital advances

Our personal and professional lives are affected by technologies and digital advances that are becoming more accurate, powerful, and capable.

The speed of innovation and adoption of emerging technologies that could cause disruption is increasing every year and does not seem to be slowing down. This provides AFSA with regulation and practice opportunities, risks and challenges.

Advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning and process automation offer possibilities to improve and simplify our work in a positive way, but these capabilities must be applied in a way that enhances compliance and supports quality regulatory outcomes. The importance of transparency, accountability and ethical decision-making cannot be understated. At the same time, we must consider the rising cybersecurity threats that utilise the same underlying technologies.

The continued adoption of newer digital assets like cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens impacts the personal insolvency system, criminal assets management and the PPSR.

As a regulator, AFSA will have to lead the way in understanding how these affect people and businesses within the Australian credit system, and then provide advice and education to relevant stakeholders.

Workforce landscape

The workforce landscape in Australia is changing. While the extremes seen throughout COVID-19 are stabilising, labour and skills shortages are still evident. There have also been significant shifts in ways of working, which appear to be here to stay.

Both training gaps and suitability gaps are impacting the availability and turnover of skilled workers in the Australian Public Service (APS), in addition to creating higher salary and conditions expectations. Pressure remains for employers to offer a compelling employee value proposition, including greater flexibility and mobility options.

In 2023–24 the Australian Government implemented a new approach to bargaining in the APS, establishing common pay and conditions across the sector. AFSA’s new Enterprise Agreement came into effect in April 2024 covering flexible working arrangements, new leave entitlements, and support for parents. In line with our workforce of the future strategic priority, we are focusing on how we attract and retain talent, including improving our recruitment processes, and developing our employee value proposition.

Capabilities

Our capability is strengthened by our people, data and technology. We are committed to prioritising and investing in initiatives that ensure AFSA is equipped to deliver our purpose and advance our vision.

People

Our people are our greatest strength. They enable us to meet our regulatory responsibilities, deliver services to the Australian community, and achieve positive social and economic outcomes.

Our self-initiated Capability Review was conducted in 2023 to ensure AFSA’s future success by supporting the agency’s strategic direction through identification and prioritisation of gaps in capability. We recognise that building our capability requires deliberate investment and commitment to our current and future workforce.

AFSA’s Workforce Strategy identifies 3 key priorities:

1. Capability – building critical capabilities at individual, leadership and enterprise levels
2. Culture – continuing to build a professional, inclusive and learning culture
3. Capacity – attracting, retaining and investing in our people to become a model employer.

In the immediate term, we will focus on practical solutions to retain staff and attract the right skills and attitudes that support us in achieving our regulatory and service delivery approaches. Over the next 4 years, we will focus on talent management and holistic capability development including regulatory, data literacy, public administration and leadership skills.

Shared leadership commitment to these goals will help us address our most critical capability gaps for the future, create a fulfilling employee experience and attract and retain top talent, in a meaningful and measured way.

Employee engagement

Our APS Employee Census results are published online, along with our agency action plan, providing insights into:

• our employee’s experience of work
• enhancements we are making to current programs
• delivery of employee-centred initiatives.

In recognition of the importance of our people, AFSA has set itself a target to achieve a year-on-year increase in its employee engagement index score, as shown in Table 1.

The employee engagement index score demonstrates commitment to the organisation and the extent to which employees are motivated, inspired and enabled to improve the agency’s outcomes.

We will report our results in the Annual Report 2024–25.

 Table 1: AFSA’s APS Employee Census scores and 2024 target

Australian Public Service Commission’s Strategic Commissioning Framework

In October 2023, the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) introduced the Strategic Commissioning Framework, setting out the expectation that the core work of the APS must be done by APS employees. The intent of the framework is to:

• prioritise direct employment
• strengthen capability of the APS
• reduce reliance on external expertise.

To implement the framework, AFSA has identified its core work and set a target to reduce outsourcing, primarily a reduction in the number of contractors (labour hire) engaged by the agency.

In 2024–25, AFSA will seek to reduce contractors by 2%. To achieve this, we will focus on transitioning roles in the Accounting and Finance, Administration, Communications and Marketing, Human Resources, and Data and Research job families to in-house APS staff.

We will begin reporting on our progress in late 2025, as required by the APSC.

Data and technology

AFSA is continuing its data and technology transformation to replace outdated systems with modern, cloud-based, industry standard platforms. These newer platforms will not only provide a better client experience but will also enable our staff to work more efficiently and build the strong foundations for AFSA to be a more effective, data driven regulator.

These new platforms will create an environment that will:

• allow us to develop enhancements that advance our regulatory effectiveness and make compliance easier
• provide new education, surveillance and enforcement tools
• enable enhanced data and analytics capability
• increase cyber security resilience.

Risk oversight and management

Managing and engaging with risk is at the core of how we deliver on our role as a contemporary, intelligence-led regulator. Risk supports us to regulate effectively, through supporting sound decision making and directing our effort to the right priorities.

AFSA faces risks within our ecosystem (ecosystem risks), to our regulatory effectiveness (effectiveness risks) and to our organisation (enterprise risks).

Ecosystem and effectiveness risks may impact our ability to identify and respond to current and emerging harms, and maintain confidence in Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems.

Enterprise risks may impact trust in the agency, our ability to deliver regulatory functions, or to meet our obligations.

The below image provides a snapshot of our risks.

We manage our risks by:

• working collaboratively with others
• implementing arrangements to support our regulatory stewardship and compliance
• safeguarding our resources and our people
• enabling effective and efficient operations.

Our risk management framework and assurance strategy describe the relationship between controls, management oversight mechanisms and independent advice and assurance.

Our framework is supported by regular reporting and other arrangements enabling us to:

• understand, identify and respond to risks, including emerging risks and issues
• work to enhance our risk culture and capability across all areas of the agency.

Stakeholder engagement

Like many other regulators, we rely on cooperation with a broad range of stakeholders and interested parties to be able to deliver on our purpose.

In addition to our robust program of stakeholder engagement, we have initiated an annual AFSA Summit, with the first event held in 2023. The event brings together leaders and stakeholders from across industry and government to discuss key issues relating to Australia’s credit system.

Government

The strength of Australia’s credit system requires various regulators to work together, share data, and collaborate on initiatives that contribute to economic and social outcomes. We can also draw insights and best practice examples from other agencies as we seek to be a visible, modern and contemporary regulator.

AFSA is committed to contributing to government-led initiatives and is a member of the Phoenix Taskforce (led by the Australian Taxation Office), the Federal Regulatory Agency Group and the National Regulators Community of Practice (led by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government). We are also observers at the Council of Financial Regulators.

We have a strong history of cooperation and working with a range of regulators, including the Australian Taxation Office, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre and the Australian Federal Police. These relationships enable alignment of our key priorities, increase mutual assistance, and maximise the effectiveness of inter-agency collaboration.

We regularly conduct liaison meetings with prominent policy institutions and regulators in the credit system such as the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. These engagements help broaden AFSA and the participating institutions’ understanding of developments in the credit system from both macro and micro perspectives. Such understanding is critical for AFSA to be an effective regulatory steward.

Engagement with government continues to be a key priority for AFSA. We will concentrate on how AFSA’s vast data and insights can be harnessed to inform improvements to policy and program design and delivery.

Industry

Our relationships with industry stakeholders are vital to our ability to regulate effectively and efficiently. We engage with industry associations, major creditors, registered trustees, registered debt agreement administrators, financial counsellors, and legal professionals to exchange feedback, expertise, and resources. We hold regular forums, send newsletters, and meet directly with individuals and organisations. These professional relationships help us to better understand issues facing the credit system and our collective role, as regulator, practitioners and stakeholders in addressing them. We pride ourselves on our accessibility, proactive engagement, and provision of timely resources, data and insights.

Researchers and subject matter experts

Academic and expert insights are an important source of information to inform AFSA’s strategic decision making and guide AFSA’s strategic priorities. Our commitment to working closely with the research sector unlocks the value of public data for the benefit of Australia’s credit system. We work closely with universities, academics and researchers and play a role in connecting industry with experts.

Other

AFSA regularly engages with international counterparts, other federal and state government entities, and community and social groups.

We connect with insolvency regulators in comparative jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore and Canada. The agency is an active member of the International Association of Commercial Administrators, the International Association of Insolvency Regulators and the International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals.

Within Australia, we work with various federal and state government departments that oversee social and economic policies and programs that relate to the credit system, our stakeholders, and our clients. This includes the Public Trustee, or similar, in each state or territory, that has responsibilities for managing proceeds of crime. We also ensure that we take opportunities to build partnerships with various financial counselling and consumer support stakeholders that our clients interact with before or after they deal with us.

Performance

Our performance measures set out how our performance in achieving our purpose will be measured and assessed.

In line with our strategic direction, in 2024–25 we are introducing a new suite of performance measures, underpinned by the principles of regulator best practice.

Measuring our performance

AFSA has developed a new suite of performance measures (implemented from 1 July 2024).

These performance measures:

• align with our vision and strategic direction
• more comprehensively meet the legislative requirements
• provide a more holistic view of our performance.

Development of our performance measures has been driven not only by accountability to Parliament and taxpayers, but a desire to embed a performance culture and improve our effectiveness.

As a regulator, measuring performance is complex. There are external factors we cannot control. The outcomes we seek to achieve are, in part, delivered by those we regulate, and public value is challenging to measure. Outcomes, such as maintaining confidence, can take many years to evidence.

These performance measures are underpinned by our enabling legislation and are mapped through our key activities, our programs, and our outcome. They measure our outputs, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The principles of regulator best practice are incorporated throughout:

1. Continuous improvement and building trust – where possible, performance measures cut across programs and/or key activities to provide a system view and insights that allow AFSA to improve the services it provides to the Australian community
2. Risk based and data driven – aligned with AFSA’s bell curve and the proportionate allocation of resources towards system vulnerability, system efficiency and system misuse
3. Collaboration and engagement – seeking feedback from stakeholders and clients about our performance.

Seven of our 8 performance measures are new in 2024–25. As we collect and report on our data in different ways, 5 performance measures will require baseline data in 2024–25. That is, we will collect data during the period, report the results for the first time in the Annual Performance Statements 2024–25, and use these results to develop targets for the next Corporate Plan. The baseline will form the point of comparison for future reporting. As we continue to invest in our 5 strategic priorities (see Our vision) we expect to be able to mature these measures in coming years. In line with a performance culture, we are committed to improving how we measure our performance, particularly as we advance our data and technology capabilities.

Performance measure architecture

The below architecture shows the links from AFSA’s enabling legislation through its outcome, programs, key activities and performance measures.

This mapping aims to provide a clear read between AFSA’s Portfolio Budget Statements, Corporate Plan, and Annual Performance Statements.

A numbering system is used to support ease of tracking. Regulatory oversight and enforcement measures use a ‘ROE’ number, regulatory administration and practice measures use a ‘RAP’ number and those that relate to both use a ‘PM’ number.

Appendix 1 outlines more detailed information regarding each performance measure.

Regulatory oversight and enforcement

Regulatory oversight and enforcement and Regulatory administration and practice

Regulatory administration and practice

Appendices

Appendix 1

Performance measures

This appendix provides further information about how we measure our performance.

Performance requirements

The tables below provide supplementary information on our performance measures and our alignment with requirements of section 16EA of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014 and the principles of regulator best practice.

Regulatory oversight and enforcement

Regulatory oversight and enforcement; Regulatory administration and practice

Regulatory administration and practice

How we report on our performance

In line with development of our new performance measures, we have updated the way we measure our performance and report our results.

The below results keys set out how we will report on our performance in the Annual Performance Statements, considering the type of measure, target and performance tolerance.

Quality assurance

We undertake regular quality assurance checks throughout the year to ensure that our results are accurate and that we maintain appropriate records.

Where we report on our performance

We will report on our performance measures in our Annual Performance Statements, contained within our Annual Report. This will include the actual results that we achieved, in comparison to our target for each performance measure, in addition to an analysis of our performance and the contributing factors.

We also regularly report insolvency statistics and publish insights that help the public to better understand personal insolvencies in Australia and the operation of the PPSR. These can be found on our website: Statistics

Appendix 2

List of requirements

AFSA’s Corporate Plan has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of section 35 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013, sections 16E and 16EA of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014, and Resource Management Guide 132 (Corporate plans for Commonwealth entities).

Past Corporate Plans