Good Shepherd response to Treasury Options Paper for regulating Buy Now Pay Later in Australia

On 21 November 2022, Treasury opened consultation on an options paper, Regulating Buy Now, Pay Later in Australia. The paper was developed amid growing calls from the financial counselling and community services sectors, to fully regulate Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) providers and products under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

The paper outlined three options: business as usual, part regulation with the scaling back of some responsible lending obligations, or full regulation as a credit product/providers.

Good Shepherd’s response is based on our Safety Net For Sale report, which reflects consultation with practitioners, and analysis of client data.

Our response outlines:

• the harm that BNPL causes to our clients,
• the role BNPL plays in financial abuse,
• difficulty accessing hardship support from BNPL providers,
• the importance of regulation to protect customers and victim-survivors of financial abuse,
• the need to fully regulate BNPL under the Credit Act,
• the need for complementary reforms, such as raising the rate of social security payments, and ensuring a right to payment splitting for essential services.

In addition to our own submission, Good Shepherd is signatory to joint submissions by the Financial Rights Legal Centre and Economic Abuse Reference Group.