Australia’s new Consumer Data Right: What’s not to like?

Australia has introduced a new Consumer Data Right (CDR) framework that will take effect in July 2020. The new CDR framework comes hot on the heels of the Independent Review into Open Banking in Australia. Open Banking is the application of the CDR in the banking sector.

Implementation is already very much under way and in July 2020 we will start to see the exchange of consumer data from within this sector (the proposed February 2020 commencement of Open Banking was pushed out by the ACCC in December 2019). The telecommunications and energy sectors are next in line and over time the CDR will be rolled out more broadly across the economy.

The introduction of the CDR framework comes at a busy time from a regulatory perspective. Just before Christmas in December 2019, the Federal Government publicly released its muchanticipated response, to the recommendations made under the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) final report into the Digital Platforms Inquiry, which was published on 26 July 2019. In its response, the Government flags its intention to undertake a review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) commencing in 2020 and concluding in 2021.

And on 22 January 2020, the Treasury released the Government’s proposed model for expansion of the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) to all banks, insurance and superannuation entities.

It is against this regulatory backdrop that the CDR makes its way into Australia’s regulatory landscape.