Open Banking in Australia moved a step closer to realisation yesterday with the passage of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Consumer Data Right) Bill 2019 through Parliament.The legislation has created the legal basis for what Anna Bligh, chief executive officer of the Australian Banking Association promised would be a "more innovative and customer focussed banking industry that will deliver better deals for Australians".An earlier version of this Consumer Data Right Bill was first introduced in February, before being palmed off to a Committee until the end of March, and then allowed to lapse when the Federal election was called.The new rules were reintroduced at the end of July, supposedly with the benefit of further consultation with interested industry players. On offer were "major improvements in the levels of transparency over the terms and conditions of a wide range of banking products," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg promised in a statement on 22 July.He noted that three of the four major banks were voluntarily launching the first stage of the Consumer Data Right on 1 July 2019.Labor MP Stephen Jones, who gave the Bill its second reading yesterday, commented that other work has been carried out, in parallel to the development of this legislation. "The [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission] has consulted extensively on its consumer data right rules framework. The CSIRO's Data61 has worked to develop a clear data standard for the banking industry, with draft documents released for comment in November and December 2018," Jones told the House of Reps.In line with the legislation, the ACCC will become the lead regulator of the Consumer Data Right, supported by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.The next stage - due in February 2020 - will give consumers greater access to information that banks hold on them; and the power to require those banks to provide safe and secure access to that information to trusted third parties."Progress to the February launch is well advanced. The ACCC will issue the 'lock-down' version of the Rules governing the system by the end of August; and the interim Data Standards Body has, in the last week, issued the implementation draft of the technical standards," Frydenberg said.