The National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Business Exemption No. 2) Regulations 2021 have been registered to reinstate the temporary small business exemption from responsible lending obligations that would otherwise apply to credit with a partial small business purpose. Background.

The Regulations also makes an amendment to the exemption period to prevent the responsible lending obligations from being temporarily re-imposed on a portion of credit activity (that has a partial small business purpose) ahead of their removal by the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Supporting Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 (if it is passed).

The amendments made by the Regulations ensure the small business exemption continues to apply until the relevant parts of the Bill commence or for a period of three years otherwise.

The National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Supporting Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 that is currently before the Parliament will implement these reforms by establishing a new regulatory framework for the provision of consumer credit.

Schedule 1 to the Bill will remove existing responsible lending obligations relating to the unsuitability of credit contracts, except in relation to small amount credit contracts (SACCs), SACC‑equivalent loans by authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs), and consumer leases. Background.

If you found this article helpful, then subscribe to our news emails to keep up to date and look at our video courses for in-depth training. Use the search box at the top right of this page or the categories list on the right hand side of this page to check for other articles on the same or related matters.