Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Unfortunately, every Australian has either been the victim of a scam or knows someone who has. In all their iterations—SMS, emails, phone calls, door knockers and the like—scams are everywhere. And they cover every aspect of life—romance, investment, false billing, employment, classifieds and threats, just to name some. I acknowledge the member for Warringah for the opportunity to bring this matter not only to the parliament's attention but also to the public's attention. The Albanese Labor government knows that every successful scam causes distress, both financial and emotional. Last year, losses from scams were $2.74 billion. We all know this, but it only gets driven home when we experience it personally.

Earlier this year, I learnt I was scammed. The exact mechanism by which I was scammed is still a bit of a mystery, which, of course, in itself is worrying, but thankfully I was alerted almost immediately because I'd opted into notifications from my bank about transactions. I was able to stop the transaction, and, after investigation, the money was returned by my bank. But many others are not so lucky, and the papers and the media regularly retell stories from individuals and businesses who have been victims. In fact, just in this debate, we've heard some very serious concerns about what has happened.

A few months ago, I was grateful for a visit to my electorate by the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services. He led a well-attended and extremely interesting scams forum. Everyone who attended the forum left better equipped to identify a scam and, if caught, to take the appropriate action. The take-home message for me from the minister still resonates—if it's too good to be true, it probably is. This is especially relevant to the investment scams that people find themselves experiencing. In 2023, Australians made more than 600,000 scam reports and lost upwards of $2.7 billion. In fact, in July 2024 alone, the National Anti-Scam Centre received reports of over 21,000 scams, with just over $20 million lost, and those are appalling statistics.

The Albanese government takes scams seriously. In the most recent budget, the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services delivered an additional $67.5 million as part of the government's second tranche of reforms to crack down on scammers. This is good news for all Australians and, hopefully, bad news for the scammers, but these scammers are clever and are always looking to be one step ahead.

An excellent resource supported by the Albanese government is Scamwatch. On its website, there is sage advice regarding investment scams, which are particularly relevant to the matter before us today. Investment scams come in a variety of forms: Ponzi schemes, cryptoscams, impostor bond scams and super scams. On Scamwatch's website, I am especially drawn to the advice regarding online contact—that is, interacting online with a romantic interest or someone that you've never met in person who starts talking to you about investing. That is a really strong signal to be very, very careful. The other advice provided, which is especially important, is about scams which involve the pressure to make an investment decision now or you'll miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime. We all know this isn't true, but, in the flurry of the moment, it can sometimes be easy to be swept up.

Scamwatch, the National Anti-Scam Centre, Moneysmart, Scams Awareness Week and the Australian Cyber Security Centre all demonstrate this government's commitment to addressing this important area of public policy, with an investment of $144 million already made to aid in the fight. This has resulted in losses from scams declining in 2023 for the first time since 2016. The second phase of our government's response will see legislation enacting code frameworks and mandatory industry codes. In his address in July this year, the Assistant Treasurer clearly stated that banks and financial institutions need to do better, including strengthening their controls around bank transfers.

Protecting Australians from scams is a priority for this government, and I've seen firsthand how seriously the Assistant Treasurer deals with this. Of course, there's always more to do, but we are getting on with the job to do the best we can as soon as we can.

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