Brokers to access CDR data

Among other changes, the Competition and Consumer (Consumer Data Right) Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Rules 2021 will allow consumers to share their open banking data with trusted professional advisers, such as their mortgage broker, financial adviser, accountant, tax agent or financial counsellor.

The changes have followed a public consultation on the standards, which in their previous state, did not allow the disclosure of CDR data by an accredited data recipient such as a bank, to other parties outside of the system that consumers wished to share their data with.

However the government stated the CDR will retain privacy and security protections to control what data is shared, for how long, with whom and for what purposes.

As shown by a marked-up version of the exposure draft rules, accredited data recipients will not be allowed to make the nomination of a trusted adviser or the giving of consent for trusted adviser disclosure a condition for supply of the goods or services requested by a CDR customer.

They will also be required to ensure the trusted adviser nominated is one of the approved professions (such as a broker or financial planner) and to keep records proving they took the steps necessary to verify it.

Other required documentation will include records and explanations of disclosures of CDR data to trusted advisers and disclosure or CDR insights, including a copy of the information disclosed, to whom it was given and when.

They also will need to update each consumer dashboard to indicate what CDR data was disclosed, when it was disclosed and who the trusted adviser was.

Accredited data recipients will also need to report on the number of consents received from CDR consumers during a reporting period to disclose data to trusted advisers and to recount the number of trusted advisers for each class (for example, how many brokers received data).

Minister for financial services and the digital economy Jane Hume said the rules are an “important step in supporting the development of a vibrant data economy”.

“The government is committed to supporting businesses and consumers to participate in the consumer data right and will continue to ensure that the rules support that objective,” Ms Hume said.

Other changes under the Competition and Consumer (Consumer Data Right) Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Rules 2021 include:

• Allowing CDR participants that are accredited by the ACCC to sponsor other parties to become accredited or allow them to operate as their representative
• Allowing consumers to disclose limited data insights outside the CDR for a specific purpose, such as to verify their identity or their bank account balance
• Enabling each consumer who uses joint accounts to consent to sharing data on the account. The new joint account data-sharing process will commence on 1 July 2022

The CDR is one initiative under the government’s $1.2 billion Digital Economy Strategy.

[Related: New regulatory regimes commence]