Financial Markets
Government releases review of the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox
On 1 July 2026, the government released its review report on the effectiveness of the Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox (ERS). Submissions from the consultation have also been released.
The review considered the role of regulatory sandboxes in supporting financial innovation in Australia and the design, operation and effectiveness of the ERS. It also considers the broader environment for financial innovation in Australia and methods to better enable financial innovation.
The key recommendations of the review are:
- the government should articulate its overarching ambition for financial innovation by developing a national financial innovation strategy;
- the financial sector should take a leading role in ensuring the role of regulation is understood by all market participants;
- ASIC should continue to operate a general regulatory sandbox, but the ERS should be reformed to broaden its scope and enhance flexibility;
- the ERS should be better integrated with ASIC's broader functions, particularly licensing and supervision;
- ASIC should consider using thematic sandboxes within its areas of sole regulatory responsibility; and
- a public-private committee should be formed, convened by treasury and including regulators, industry representatives and independent members to prioritise and decide on the need for specific thematic sandboxes.
See: Media Release, Final Report, Consultation Paper
ASIC seeks feedback on remaking financial market relief instruments
On 6 July 2026, ASIC announced that it is seeking feedback on its proposal to remake three legislative instruments which provide relief related to financial market operations.
The proposed legislative instruments, which are due to sunset on 1 October 2026, are:
- ASIC Corporations (Dematerialised Securities: Austraclear) Instrument 2016/841;
- ASIC Corporations (Disclosure of Directors' Interests) Instrument 2016/881; and
- ASIC Corporations (Records: Dealings on Foreign Markets) Instrument 2016/889
ASIC proposes to remake the legislative instruments for a period of five years, with minor amendments to simplify the instruments and improve clarity. The effect of the instruments will remain largely unchanged.
Feedback on the proposal should be provided by 31 July 2026.
See: Media Release, Instrument 2016/841, Instrument 2016/881, Instrument 2016/889
Payments
A2A Payment Roundtable releases vision for account-to-account payments in Australia
On 8 July 2026, the Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments Roundtable released its A2A payments vision, incorporating feedback from a public consultation and ongoing engagements with end-users and other stakeholders on Australia's A2A payment systems.
The Roundtable brings together AusPayNet, AP+, the RBA and Commonwealth Treasury.
The A2A payments vision detailed end-user objectives, system characteristics, governance and delivery.
With the vision finalised, the focus now shifts to the A2A payments roadmap to define the way forward including defining high-level deliverables, implementation timelines and associated governance and coordination arrangements.
See: Media Release, Vision, Summary of submissions
Financial Advice
ASIC seeks feedback on proposal to remake qualified accountant legislative instrument
On 15 July 2026, ASIC announced that it is seeking feedback on its proposal to remake a legislative instrument relating to qualified accountants.
The proposed legislative instrument, which is due to expire on 1 October 2026, is ASIC Corporations (Qualified Accountant) Instrument 2016/786.
ASIC proposes to remake this instrument for ten years, with minor amendments to ensure clarity and consistency. The effect of the instrument will remain unchanged.
Feedback on the proposal should be provided by 12 August 2026.
See: Media Release, Instrument 2016/786
Funds Management
ASIC issues simplified legislative instrument for platform operators
On 7 July 2026, ASIC announced that it has made a new legislative instrument for operators of investor directed portfolio services (IDPS) and IDPS-like schemes.
The ASIC Corporations (Platforms – IDPSs and IDPS-like Schemes) Instrument 2026/395 replaces the relief under:
- ASIC Corporations (Investor Directed Portfolio Services Provided Through a Registered Managed Investment Scheme) Instrument 2023/668; and
- ASIC Corporations (Investor Directed Portfolio Services) Instrument 2023/669.
ASIC has:
- consolidated the instruments so that ASIC's main relief for platforms is centralised;
- removed and updated requirements, including replacing quarterly reporting with electronic access to account information; and
- updated structure and language.
ASIC consulted on the proposed simplification in Report 813 Regulatory Simplification in September 2025 (REP 813).
ASIC will update Regulatory Guide 148 Platforms that are managed investment schemes and nominee and custody services to reflect the new instrument in coming months.
See: Media Release, Instrument 2026/395, Instrument 2023/668, Instrument 2023/669, REP 813
Banking
APRA publishes guidance on reporting points of presence collection
On 8 July 2026, APRA published additional guidance on reporting points of presence collection.
The guidance clarifies how ADIs should comply with Reporting Standard ARS 796.0 points of presence (ARS 796). ARS 796 provides the presence reporting framework for co-located service channels to support consistent and comparable data across the industry.
Face-to-face points of presence should be reported separately under the following criteria:
- face-to-face service channels are located in different geographic locations; or
- multiple face‑to‑face service channels operate within the same geographic location and the service channels are not co‑located.
See: Media Release, Guidance, ARS 796
Insurance
APRA releases response to consultation on the National Claims and Policies Database
On 1 July 2026, APRA released its response to consultation on proposed updates to the section 57 non-confidentiality determination supporting publication of aggregated statistics from the National Claims and Policies Database (NCPD).
The key changes include:
- APRA will proceed with the proposed non-confidentiality determination to reflect the addition of cyber insurance and management liability aggregates as separately published product types;
- APRA will work with industry to produce a Reporting Practice Guide to address any uncertainty relating to the separate treatment of cyber insurance and management liability;
- APRA's published NCPD outputs will continue to apply the maintained level of aggregation and existing confidentiality safeguards as well as external publications including aggregation and masking consistent with these safeguards; and
- APRA will proceed with the proposed publication format for NCPD statistics through downloadable spreadsheets for policy statistics, claims statistics, facilities statistics and Lloyd's publications.
APRA will finalise the non-confidentiality determination and proceed with the release of the updated NCPD publications.
See: Media Release, Response Letter, Submission - Actuaries Institute, Submission - ICA
APRA finalises amendments to general insurance reinsurance framework
On 7 July 2026, APRA announced that it has finalised amendments to the general insurance reinsurance framework after two rounds of consultation with industry.
The key changes to the framework include:
- targeted adjustments to improve access to alternative reinsurance arrangements;
- an expanded role for the appointed actuary in determining the capital treatment of certain reinsurance arrangements, reducing the need to refer matters to APRA; and
- technical refinements to improve clarity, consistency and transparency across the general insurance framework.
More detailed information on the amendments was published alongside the most recent round of consultation in January 2026.
The amendments will come into effect on 1 January 2027.
See: Media Release, Response Paper, Consultation
Superannuation
APRA consults on amendments to superannuation data collections
On 8 July 2026, APRA released a consultation package seeking feedback on proposed amendments to Reporting Standards in relation to the transition of superannuation data collection systems from 'Direct to APRA' to 'APRA Connect'.
In particular, APRA is seeking feedback on proposed amendments to:
- Reporting Standard SRS 533.0 Asset Allocation (SRS 533.0);
- Reporting Standard SRS 610.2 Membership Profile (SRS 610.2); and
- associated definitions in Reporting Standard SRS 101.0 Definitions for Superannuation Data Collections (SRS 101.0).
These amendments are being implemented to facilitate the migration between systems, reduce compliance burden, enhance security, and improve data quality in a single submission platform.
Submissions are to be made by 21 August 2026.
See: Media Release, Consultation Package, Consultation Letter
Other authors: Charlotte Ekins, Graduate and Deuchar Allen, Lawyer.
