The Productivity Commission says it will conduct a review of the Consumer Data Right, now a cornerstone of banking practice, but not widely used in other industries.
In 2017, the PC recommended the introduction of a comprehensive right for data.
Australia’s Consumer Data Right was created in 2019 as a more limited right that would allow consumers to access data about themselves from businesses in designated sectors (beginning with banking) and direct its transfer to accredited third parties.
“Within its limited scope, the CDR has not met expectations” the Commission said.
“Consumer uptake appears to be low, implementation costs for businesses have been high, and the CDR has a complex regulatory structure and onerous compliance requirements.
“The Government has announced it will reset the CDR by streamlining its rules and expanding it to non-bank lending providers.
“Taking stock of the lessons from the CDR, we are exploring opportunities to better enable consumers to benefit from data about themselves and facilitate its use to drive innovation and productivity growth.
“We will look at where consumer data remains underused and the types of access that consumers need to get value from it.
“We will also consider the costs that different types of data access regimes impose on businesses and how they affect businesses’ decisions to invest in collecting and using data.”