6th Jun 2024, 12:54 PM – Representatives Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 - Second Reading - Agree with the bill's main idea

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill a second time. In other words, they voted to agree with the main idea of the bill and can now discuss it in greater detail.

What is the bill's main idea?

According to the bills digest:

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the Bill) implements two separate policy initiatives:

• to strengthen regulatory arrangements for Australia’s financial market infrastructure (FMI)

• to impose mandatory climate-related disclosure obligations on large businesses.

Schedules 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the Bill implement an ‘important and longstanding recommendation’ of the Council of Financial Regulators (CFR) to strengthen regulation of Australia’s FMI. The CFR’s recommendation has gained a new urgency following the failure of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to replace its decades-old CHESS system, which is a critical FMI that underpins the smooth functioning of Australia’s share market.

Schedule 4 of the Bill empowers the Australian Accounting Standards Board to issue internationally aligned sustainability reporting standards that large Australian businesses and financial institutions must comply with. If enacted, large businesses will need to prepare an annual sustainability report to disclose their climate risks and opportunities in accordance with the new reporting standards. The Australian Government’s policy intention is to improve the quality and comparability of climate-related financial disclosures across different companies and sectors, which, in turn, should help investors make more informed decisions.

The shift to mandatory climate financial disclosure has been described by government officials as ‘the biggest change to corporate reporting in a generation’ and has elicited strong reactions from a multitude of stakeholders. While environmental advocacy groups support the introduction of mandatory disclosure, several business groups are concerned that mandatory disclosure will impose ‘excessive regulatory burden’ on Australian businesses.

In comparison with the widespread media reporting of Schedule 4, the policy initiative regarding FMI has garnered limited media attention. Written submissions from stakeholders indicate ‘overwhelmingly positive support’ for the FMI policy initiative.

On 3 May 2024, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee published its report on the Bill and supported the Bill’s passage. Coalition Senators issued a dissenting report and raised concerns regarding several provisions of Schedule 4, recommending that these be amended.