The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released an information paper and prudential
practice guide (PPG 233) to assist APRA-regulated institutions with their
planning for a potential pandemic.

Without overstating the likelihood of a pandemic actually arising, APRA’s interest is in ensuring that regulated institutions have conducted prudent and reasonable planning to meet core obligations to depositors, policyholders and other beneficiaries and to maintain their financial viability even in such an unlikely scenario.

The guide covers areas such as pandemic project governance, business continuity management, the typical content of pandemic plans, definition of critical functions, the range of external factors that need to be considered and potential financial impacts.