ASIC has announced that it has lodged an appeal to the Full Federal Court of Australia against the trial decision of Justice Perram rejecting ASIC’s allegations against Westpac Banking Corporation for contraventions of responsible lending provisions of the National Credit Act. Background.

UPDATE 5 December 2019: the Federal Court Full Court will hear the appeal from 25 February 2020.

UPDATE July 2020: ASIC’s appeal dismissed.

ASIC says that it considers that the Federal Court’s decision creates uncertainty as to what is required for a lender to comply with its assessment obligation and that it does not regard the decision as consistent with the legislative intention of the responsible lending regime.