The 2023-2024 Australian Federal Budget contains funding for a range of government projects related to the financial services sector.

The areas of focus include cyber security, scams, privacy, climate change, money laundering and modern slavery.

The Budget includes additional funding to strengthen Australia’s cyber security resilience and privacy enforcement.

This includes establishing a new Coordinator for Cyber Security to ensure that the Commonwealth’s cybersecurity efforts are strategic, coordinated, timely and effective.

The coordinator will be supported by the National Office of Cyber Security and dedicated resources from within the Department of Home Affairs and other Commonwealth entities, with capacity to surge further in the event of a cyber incident.

The Government will provide funding to combat scams and online fraud. Funding includes:
• establishing the National Anti-Scam Centre within the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to improve scam data sharing across government and the private sector and to establish public-private sector Fusion Cells to target specific scam issues;
• funding for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to identify and take down phishing websites and other websites which promote investment scams, to be cost recovered through levies under ASIC’s industry funding model;
• funding to the Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts to establish and enforce an SMS sender ID registry to impede scammers seeking to spoof industry and government brand names in message headers.

The Government will also provide additional funding for the Office of the eSafety Commissioner to continue to support Australians online, including through enhanced educational, outreach and investigatory activities.

The Government will provide funding to support policy and legislative reforms to harden Australia against illicit financing and evaluation of Australia’s anti-money laundering framework.

The Government will extend funding for the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce (SFCT) and Serious Organised Crime program (SOC). The programs will also be merged, with a merged SFCT to commence from 1 July 2023. These groups are led by the ATO and are aimed at organised crime groups as well as serious financial crime and tax evasion.

The Government will provide funding for stronger privacy protection and enforcement. This money is primarily allocated to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to support a standalone Privacy Commissioner, progress investigations and enforcement, and enhance its data and analytics capability. This initiative will drive a stronger focus on board oversight of data governance.

The Government will provide funding to establish an Anti-Slavery Commissioner to work across Government, industry and civil society, to support compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2018, to improve transparency in supply chains and help fight modern slavery in Australia and abroad.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will establish the first phase of a complaints mechanism for designated consumer and small business advocacy groups to raise systemic issues under consumer law within existing resourcing.

A new, legislated Net Zero Authority will be established which will:

1. Support workers in emissions-intensive sectors to access new employment, skills and support as the net zero transformation continues.
2. Coordinate programs and policies across government to support regions and communities to attract and take advantage of new clean energy industries and set those industries up for success.
3. Help investors and companies to engage with net zero transformation opportunities.

To kickstart the Authority’s responsibilities immediately, the Government intends to establish an Agency from July 1 this year, initially housed in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Agency will also lead in providing advice to Government on the final design and establishment of the legislated National Net Zero Authority.

Household Energy Upgrades Fund includes $1.0 billion in funding to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to provide low-cost finance and mortgages in partnership with private financial institutions for home upgrades that save energy.

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