David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning, I hosted a group of people who have been victims of scams. They're among the hundreds of thousands of Australians who fall victim to scams every year. Scams are increasingly sophisticated, and Australians recognise that they are no longer things that just happen to other people. Scams cost Australians more than $2.47 billion last year alone. The government last week released exposure draft legislation designed to crack down on scams. It has been a long time coming, and it's a very welcome step.

But scam victims, experts and advocates, like CHOICE, are telling me it doesn't go far enough. While the government's draft bill seeks to prevent and punish scams, it doesn't properly protect victims. This is because, while it sets up a framework and industry codes, it doesn't include a reimbursement model. I'm really concerned that that is because big vested interests are again driving this policy development. The banks don't want to be on the hook for reimbursing, but a reimbursement model would make an enormous difference. It is the most effective means of getting financial institutions to take this seriously and reduce scam losses. We've seen this in the UK, where they have brought in a strong reimbursement model with compensation capped at 85,000 pounds, or around A$166,000.

In the UK, total scam losses have declined by four per cent. More importantly, 98 per cent of those impacted by scams have been fully refunded. Here in Australia, the big four repaid less than four per cent of the $558 million their customers lost to scams in 2022. This was at the same time as they were making a profit of some $32 billion. This problem is bad and it's getting worse, and Australians deserve better protection from their government.