Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This Financial Services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort Levy (Collection) Bill 2021 is one of two bills which form the levy framework for the financial services Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, the CSLR.

The framework imposes a levy on relevant industry entities to fund the CSLR on an ongoing basis.

The levies consist of an annual levy, to be collected in advance of the financial year in which claims are to be paid and starting from January 2023, and a one-off levy to be imposed in the 2022-23 financial year.

Under the levy framework, the CSLR operator estimates the compensation and Australian Financial Complaints Authority complaint-handling costs to be paid out in the next financial year, as well as the costs of administering the scheme. These estimates then determine the total amount of levy to be paid by each subsector to meet expected outlays in the next financial year.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, ASIC, will be responsible for issuing levy notices and collecting all levies imposed under the CSLR levy framework.

The bill provides ASIC with a range of powers to support its administration of the levy. These powers include the ability to seek information from relevant firms for the purpose of correctly calculating the firm's levy, the ability to impose penalties for late payment and the ability to impose a shortfall penalty where incorrect information has been provided.

Full details of the measure are contained in the explanatory memorandum.

Debate adjourned.