The National Consumer Credit Protection Legislation Amendment Regulations 2010 (No.4) have been registered.

Amongst other things, the Regulations set out important practical changes relating to:

• the form and content of responsible lending disclosure documents; and
• the way they must be given to consumers.

The disclosure documents affected include the credit guide, credit quote and credit proposal disclosure document.

The changes:

• provide temporary and conditional transitional relief between 1 January 2011 and 1 April 2011 in relation to disclosure of EDR scheme membership in credit guides and in relation to the provision of quotes and credit proposals by credit assistance providers;
• exempt persons from the requirement to provide a credit guide in a number of specific situations where this results in duplication or is otherwise unnecessary (for example, because the consumer has previously been given one and the information has not changed);
• exempt persons who provide credit assistance from having to give a quote if they will not be charging the consumer a fee;
• permit disclosure documents to be given electronically, subject to conditions; and
• permit two or more disclosure documents to be combined (provided that they otherwise meet the requirements of the National Credit Act).

Some existing regulations have been renumbered.