Regulatory Review 2024
The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) commissioned the Regulatory Review as part of an ongoing commitment to continuous improvement as a regulator. The review was conducted by Dr John Hamill, formerly Chief Executive of the Essential Services Commission of Victoria, and Michael Kingston, formerly the Australian Government Solicitor, (the panel).
The panel made 8 recommendations that provide a roadmap for AFSA to lift its performance as a regulator to achieve better social and economic outcomes for the Australian community. AFSA has accepted the recommendations in full, with a view to addressing them by the end of the 2024-25 financial year.
The panel characterised AFSA’s ideal operating model to be an intelligence-led regulator which aspires to use data, intelligence, and the experience of its staff to intervene in, disrupt, and correct non-compliance within the field of its responsibilities.
It has an important role in providing intelligence to government partners and supporting AFSA partners’ regulatory actions at the perimeter of its responsibilities. AFSA also needs to have an empathetic approach to dealing with people experiencing vulnerability within the personal insolvency system – while being willing to take strong enforcement action when necessary to provide specific and general deterrence.
The panel found that there is a strong culture within AFSA, and a good awareness of this regulatory ambition and shift in posture. The recommendations are designed to support AFSA’s leadership team to build on recent leadership renewal and structural change , to deliver on the promises of this operating model.
The key recommendations focus on core elements of the supporting processes that will enable AFSA to strengthen its ability to be an intelligence-led regulator that reduces non-compliance and takes effective enforcement action.
There are recommendations to invest in data collection and knowledge management, build compliance and enforcement governance to provide oversight of AFSA’s regulatory strategy and implementation, and review the legal function to increase its strategic capability.
Further recommendations include investment in core AFSA technical skills development for staff following the recent change process, and to review and potentially simplify the risk framework to ensure alignment with the Regulatory Strategy.