The Australian government has announced a raft of reforms to its Scams Prevention Framework, including a proposal that would require entities such as banks and telecommunications providers to automatically reimburse scam victims for losses below $3,000.
The proposal is part of a scheme aimed at streamlining the internal dispute resolution (IDR) process and ensuring that those processes are “proportionate to the value of the loss … without imposing unnecessary burden on either consumers or regulated entities”.
“While lower-value complaints can be resolved through streamlined processes, there will still be cases where the IDR process is not proportionate to [the] value of the loss,” the government said in its position paper, released on 28 May.
“That is why it would be appropriate to automatically reimburse scam victims for verified scam losses below $3,000.”
Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino explained the government’s thinking on the figure while speaking on the ABC’s AM program.
“For smaller losses, $3,000 and under, what we’re proposing is that there should be automatic payment to consumers where they can verify that there has been a scam,” Mulino said.
“Scams that get into the six figures – some investment scams, some romance scams – that’s where dispute resolution processes would come into play.”
When asked why the figure wasn’t higher, particularly in comparison to the UK, Mulino said the government did not want to encourage scammers.
“What we want to do is to make sure that we don’t have the wrong incentives for perpetrators to see Australia as a soft target,” Mulino said.
“But the balance is that with very small claims, we don’t want to have processes that are completely disproportionate to the value of the sum in dispute.”
According to the position paper, when scam losses involve multiple regulated entities, reimbursement would be spread equally between those entities.
“Scams are costing Australians billions, and the human impact is even greater. That’s why we’re moving beyond voluntary action to a stronger, coordinated approach across the economy,” Mulino said in a statement.
“By working with industry, we’re stopping scams earlier and protecting Australians’ hard‑earned money.”
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David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.