Senator the Hon Nick Sherry, Minister for Superannuation and
Corporate Law, has announced that the Commonwealth Government reached
agreement with the States and Territories at the Council of
Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Sydney on 3 July, to assume
responsibility for regulation of all consumer credit. (COAG Communique 3 July 2008)

Consumer credit includes personal loans, credit cards, pay day lending and micro loans.

COAG has also formally
agreed that the Australian Government will assume responsibility
for regulating mortgages, mortgage brokers, trustee companies, non-bank
lenders and margin loans.

In March, COAG requested that the
case for reform of consumer credit be further examined. To this end,
the Government released a Green Paper on Financial Services and Credit Reform
in early June. Submissions closed on 1 July.

During the coming months, the Commonwealth
Government, in consultation with the States and Territories, will
develop a plan to present to COAG in October 2008 on how this
major agreement will be implemented.

At the same time the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs (MCCA) will be considering its response to the Final Report of the Productivity Commission’s Review of Australia’s Consumer Policy Framework for presentation to COAG in October as agreed at MCCA’s 23 May 2008 meeting.