Regional Bank Closures

The Hon. S.L. GAME (14:50): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding the digitalisation of money and the ensuing trend towards a cashless society and its effect on regional communities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.L. GAME: A recent Senate inquiry into regional branch closures has recommended significant changes to the Banking Code of Conduct that will ensure access to financial services for all Australians. These recommendations were particularly aimed at ensuring financial accessibility to people in rural and remote areas. The findings of this inquiry, which were made public on 24 May, reiterated the concerns of a cashless society that I addressed with parliament on 1 May. These concerns focused on how the closure of hundreds of bank branches would disproportionately affect rural businesses and consumers who depend on conventional financing sources like cash.

The committee spearheading the report recommended that under the changes to the Banking Code of Conduct a regulator be given the authority to approve or defer closure requests, and that banks fund transition and ongoing services to maintain access to cash and essential banking services. Additionally, the report called for an expansion of the Bank@Post service, which is a joint initiative between Australia Post branches and participating banks to allow financial services like cash withdrawals, deposits and transactions to be facilitated at Australia Post branches.

Despite the shift towards online banking, the importance of maintaining access to physical banking services cannot be overstated. This is particularly true for the rural populace, the elderly, those without internet access and businesses that rely on cash transactions. My questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister recognise that Australians are growing increasingly worried about the digitalisation of money and, if so, how does the minister intend to address these concerns?

2. Does the minister recognise the importance of cash to Australians?

3. Will the minister support the recommendations put forth by the transport reference committee for rural and regional affairs regarding bank closures in regional Australia, specifically the proposals that secure and improve the accessibility of cash?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:52): I thank the honourable member for her question. I did respond to a question earlier this week about that same inquiry in which I said that there were a number of recommendations that had been made, but the implementation had not been outlined. As I understand it, a number may be within the scope of government, but it is obviously far broader than that, given that we are talking about banks and all the associated matters to do with that. I do acknowledge there are a wide variety of views about, to use the honourable member's term, the digitalisation or less use of cash. There is a wide variety of views within the community.

I think it is probably most appropriate to wait for that implementation plan, or whatever else comes out of the federal government, and then, if there are any actions for the state government to take, they can be considered at that time.