The Government has released exposure draft Treasury Laws Amendment (Modernising Business Communications) Bill to modernise business communications by applying regulations regardless of whether they use paper, are sent by post or use modern technology (“technology neutral”).

The exposure draft comprises proposed amendments that:

• expands the scope of the global regimes that allow documents to be signed and sent electronically in the Corporations Amendment (Meetings and Documents) Bill 2021 (Background);
• legislates relief for companies, registered schemes and disclosing entities sending documents to ‘lost members’ under the Corporations Act 2001;
• allows notices published in newspapers to be published in any accessible and reasonably prominent manner across Treasury portfolio laws;
• updates payment provisions in Treasury legislation to ensure electronic payments can be made;
• updates the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 and associated legislation to give consumers and their credit providers greater flexibility when updating their details and when sending documents.

In the next phase of the project, the Government will consider further reforms to improve technology neutrality including: communicating with regulators, exemptions to the Electronic Transactions Act 1999, product disclosure and recordkeeping requirements.

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