Tim Beresford
Chief Executive, Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA)

Connection, by its very definition, is about creating links, linking ideas and building relationships. It’s our shared connection in our credit ecosystem that will ensure the best outcomes for Australians.

At the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA), connection enables us to progress common objectives.

Our Inaugural Summit, held in Sydney on Wednesday 18 October, was an opportunity to help us further build connections between leaders from across the credit ecosystem. With the theme of ‘Building confidence through connection’, it was our pleasure to welcome more than 100 people representing a range of areas including industry leaders, practitioners, advocacy groups and government.

I sincerely thank everyone who attended and contributed to help us achieve the Summit’s goals. The energy in the room helped create and cultivate dynamic conversations throughout the day – thank you.

As you may know, AFSA is responsible for administering Australia’s personal insolvency and personal property securities systems and managing the proceeds of crime through criminal assets management.

Regulation is at the heart of what we do. As regulatory stewards, we anticipate and respond to change. We are shifting our regulatory posture to address economic headwinds, changes in creditor behaviour and changes in social license.

The Summit’s program was underpinned by our enduring regulatory priorities: system vulnerability, system efficiency and system misuse.

Facilitated by esteemed journalist and broadcaster Jenny Brockie, panel conversations focused on how education, compliance and enforcement create a common understanding across the credit system.

In a fireside chat, our attendees heard from Governor Michele Bullock from the Reserve Bank of Australia who shared her insights into the current economic climate and how these challenges may impact the credit system.

We focused on the issue of unlicensed pre-insolvency advisors, discussing how partners across industry can connect to call out the bad actors who misuse the system and prey on those who are vulnerable.

We heard from key credit leaders on what’s impacting the system at the moment, and how current lessons and the realities post-pandemic can assist us in maintaining a strong credit system for the future.

Government leaders spoke about how a user-first approach can change the connection to compliance for our clients – in particular, how technology can be used to support positive outcomes.

From a prevention lens, a cross-industry panel spoke on the value of financial capability in building financial security, with a particular focus on the changing demographics and debt profiles being seen across Australia following the pandemic.

I thoroughly enjoyed the thought-provoking, considered reflections from each of our speakers. I thank the panellists and participants for engaging in important conversations and sharing different perspectives. Bringing our different ideas to the table is critical to connecting our system.

We know that connection and understanding is vital to help us become a visible, modern and contemporary regulator to support a strong credit system for Australia.

Connection is a critical element in supporting this posture, helping us to address the issues that may weaken our system.

The momentum doesn’t end here. We look forward to building on these conversations and connecting with more members of the credit system to address issues including financial education, untrustworthy advisors and more in 2024 and beyond.

The full program including a list of speakers and panellists can be found at afsa.gov.au/AFSASummit.