Many in retirement are travelling comfortably, with three key factors contributing to their happiness – good physical and mental health and enough money to enjoy life.
Perhaps the assumption that markets are still anchored by predictable economic policies needs to be challenged. For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, political volatility – once background noise – is potentially reshaping investment risk at a structural level.
Scams legislation puts the heat on business to protect seniors
Seniors will be safer online and their money more secure after the parliament approved legislation to establish the Scams Prevention Framework that requires companies to prevent, detect, disrupt, respond and report scams and attempted scams.
Banks, telecommunications and social media companies are the first in the queue, with the framework making them subject to comprehensive and enforceable sector-specific rules for what they must do to protect Australians.
For social media companies, they will be required to verify advertisers on their platforms – a critical step to ridding their pages of fake scam ads; banks will be required to confirm the identity of payees; and telcos will have to detect and disrupt scam numbers sending texts and calls.
Businesses will have a substantial incentive to have ironclad scams defences, with fines of up to $50 million for those failing to meet their obligations. Just as importantly, victims will have clear pathways to compensation if the business fails to meet these robust standards.
“We will continue to protect hard-working Australians from increasingly sophisticated and organised scammers,” says Communications Minister Michelle Rowland (pictured).
“The Scams Prevention Framework will help further strengthen scam defences, and I encourage the telecommunications sector and social media platforms to work with the regulators to develop the enforceable industry codes that will provide consumers with the best protection.”
The 2024 ScamWatch figures highlight the vulnerability of seniors to this nefarious activity. Of the $319 million in reported losses last year, those 65 and over accounted for $100 million or nearly one-third of all reported losses. If those aged between 55 and 65 are included, the figure rises to $159 million or half of all reported losses.
What makes these figures even more worrying is the fact that while these two age groups accounted for half the reported losses, they only comprised 37 per cent of reported scams, suggesting many simply fail to report either attempted or successful scams.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which will monitor the regulated entities’ compliance with the framework, welcomed the legislation for setting delineating, consistent and enforceable obligations for businesses in key sectors where scammers operate.
“The financial crime type scams present an unacceptable threat to the community and have had a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of Australians,” ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe says.
“This legislation is a critical step in the fight against scams – creating over-arching principles that all members of designated sectors must comply with. We know scammers will exploit weak links in the system, so these principles are key to a consistent approach.”
“While the steps taken by some organisations over the past few years are welcomed, the framework provides the opportunity for joint effort across government and industry to develop solutions to scam challenges and for consumers to access meaningful redress.”
An advocacy organisation for senior Australians, COTA Australia, hailed the legislation as an important step towards ensuring all Australians – including older Australians who are the most impacted – were given greater protection against scams.
“Older Australians are falling victim to scam activity at alarming rates, and this is having a devastating impact on retirement savings,” says chief executive officer Patricia Sparrow.
“This framework will ensure banks, telcos and social media platforms are held accountable for preventing scams and properly compensating victims when prevention fails, which is crucial.”
She says it’s important to note the concerns raised at the Senate inquiry into the issue, including potential complexity around compensation.
“There’s a clear need to ensure subordinate legislation, industry codes and the external complaint resolution process is established in a way that ensures compensation will, in practice, be achievable under the scheme.
“While we welcome the Australian Financial Complaints Authority commitment to consult with all stakeholders during the industry design phase, we must ensure this translates into real, practical protections.”
