{"id":"F2006L02980","name":"Payment Systems (Regulation) Regulations 2006","slug":"payment-systems-regulation-regulations-2006","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"239 of 2006","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":60255,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2006L02980-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Regulations","content":"#### 1 Name of Regulations\n\n These Regulations are the Payment Systems (Regulation) Regulations 2006.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Definition","content":"#### 4 Definition\n\n In these Regulations:\n\n> Act means the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998.\n\n> AUSTRAC has the same meaning as in the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Specified interchange fees standards","content":"#### 5 Specified interchange fees standards\n\n For the purposes of paragraph 18A(2)(b) of the Act, the following standards are specified:\n (a) the standard that is known as Standard No. 1 of 2016, The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Designated Credit Card Schemes and Net Payments to Issuers and that was determined by the Reserve Bank on 26 May 2016;\n (b) the standard that is known as Standard No. 2 of 2016, The Setting of Interchange Fees in the Designated Debit and Prepaid Card Schemes and Net Payments to Issuers and that was determined by the Reserve Bank on 26 May 2016.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Authorisation of certain conduct","content":"#### 6 Authorisation of certain conduct\n\n For subparagraph 51(1)(a)(ii) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, anything that is done in accordance with the Access Regime for the ATM System, imposed by the Reserve Bank on 3 March 2009, is specified, and specifically authorised by this regulation.\n\n> Note: An electronic version of the Access Regime for the ATM System is accessible on the internet at http://www.rba.gov.au.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Special regulators, heads and eligible delegates","content":"#### 7 Special regulators, heads and eligible delegates\n\n The following apply in relation to each item in the table:\n (a) for the purposes of paragraph 11C(1)(b) of the Act, an entity specified in column 1 of an item is prescribed as a special regulator;\n (b) for the purposes of paragraph 7(2)(b) of the Act, a person specified in column 2 of an item is prescribed as the head of the special regulator specified in column 1 of the item;\n (c) for the purposes of paragraph 31A(1)(b) and subsection 31A(2) of the Act, if an entity specified in column 1 of an item is a nominated special regulator in relation to a special designated payment system, then a person specified in column 3 of the item is prescribed as an eligible delegate in relation to the nominated special regulator.\n\n```html\n

Special regulators, heads and eligible delegates

Item

Column 1

Special regulators

Column 2

Heads of special regulators

Column 3

Eligible delegates in relation to special regulators that are nominated special regulators

1

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the Commission)

The Chairperson of the Commission

Each of the following:

(a) a member of the Commission (within the meaning of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010);

(b) a person who:

(i) is referred to in subsection 27(1) of that Act; and

(ii) is an SES employee or acting SES employee in the Commission

2

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

The Chair of APRA

Each of the following:

(a) an APRA member (within the meaning of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998);

(b) a person who:

(i) is an APRA staff member (within the meaning of that Act), other than a person engaged under section 47 of that Act (about consultants and other people engaged to perform services); and

(ii) holds, or is acting in, a position in APRA that is equivalent to, or higher than, a position occupied by an SES employee

3

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

The Chairperson of ASIC

Each of the following:

(a) a member of ASIC (within the meaning of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001);

(b) a senior staff member (within the meaning of that Act), other than a person engaged under subsection 121(1) of that Act (about consultants etc.);

(c) an SES employee or acting SES employee who is seconded to ASIC under section 122 of that Act

4

AUSTRAC

The Chief Executive Officer of AUSTRAC

A person who:

(a) is covered by the definition of AUSTRAC entrusted person in section 5 of the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006, other than a person covered by paragraph (c), (e) or (g) of that definition; and

(b) despite paragraph (a) of this table item, is not a person covered by paragraph 225(3)(g) of that Act; and

(c) either:

(i) is an SES employee or acting SES employee in AUSTRAC; or

(ii) holds, or is acting in, a position in AUSTRAC that is equivalent to, or higher than, a position occupied by an SES employee

\n```","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"8","sectionType":"section","heading":"Persons authorised to use or disclose information—nominated special regulators","content":"#### 8 Persons authorised to use or disclose information—nominated special regulators\n\n For the purposes of paragraph 26A(4)(d) of the Act, if an entity specified in column 1 of an item in the table is a nominated special regulator in relation to a special designated payment system, then a person specified in column 2 of the item is prescribed in relation to the nominated special regulator.\n\n```html\n

Persons authorised to use or disclose information

Item

Column 1

Nominated special regulators

Column 2

Prescribed persons

1

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the Commission)

Each of the following:

(a) a member of the Commission (within the meaning of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010);

(b) an associate member of the Commission (within the meaning of that Act);

(c) a person who is:

(i) referred to in subsection 27(1) of that Act; or

(ii) engaged under section 27A of that Act

2

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

Each of the following:

(a) an APRA member (within the meaning of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998), other than the Chair of APRA;

(b) an APRA staff member (within the meaning of that Act)

3

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

Each of the following:

(a) a member of ASIC (within the meaning of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001);

(b) a staff member (within the meaning of that Act)

4

AUSTRAC

An AUSTRAC entrusted person (within the meaning of the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006)

\n```","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"9","sectionType":"section","heading":"Persons protected from civil liability—nominated special regulators","content":"#### 9 Persons protected from civil liability—nominated special regulators\n\n For the purposes of paragraph 30B(4)(d) of the Act, if an entity specified in column 1 of an item in the table is a nominated special regulator, then a person specified in column 2 of the item is prescribed in relation to the nominated special regulator.\n\n```html\n

Persons protected from civil liability

Item

Column 1

Nominated special regulators

Column 2

Prescribed persons

1

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the Commission)

Each of the following:

(a) a member of the Commission (within the meaning of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010);

(b) an associate member of the Commission (within the meaning of that Act);

(c) a person who is:

(i) referred to in subsection 27(1) of that Act; or

(ii) engaged under section 27A of that Act

2

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

Each of the following:

(a) an APRA member (within the meaning of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998), other than the Chair of APRA;

(b) an APRA staff member (within the meaning of that Act)

3

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

Each of the following:

(a) a member of ASIC (within the meaning of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001);

(b) a staff member (within the meaning of that Act)

4

AUSTRAC

An AUSTRAC entrusted person (within the meaning of the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006)

\n```","sortOrder":6}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain tightly focused on their original purpose: supporting the Reserve Bank's oversight of payment systems and enabling multi-regulator coordination. The addition of AUSTRAC and the detailed delegation tables represents incremental expansion within the existing framework rather than mission creep."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references to external legislation (Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998, Competition and Consumer Act 2010, APRA Act 1998, ASIC Act 2001, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006)","Three detailed tables with nested sub-paragraphs defining specific office-holders and their delegations","Conditional logic in tables (e.g., 'if an entity... is a nominated special regulator, then...')","Technical terminology requiring external statutory definitions (e.g., 'SES employee', 'APRA member', 'AUSTRAC entrusted person')","Duplicative structure across sections 7, 8, and 9 with slight variations in prescribed persons"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations implement the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998 by adopting Reserve Bank standards that cap interchange fees, authorising cooperative ATM arrangements to preserve access and competition, and formally designating ACCC, APRA, ASIC and AUSTRAC as special regulators with delegation, information‑sharing and legal protections. They affect banks and payment providers, reduce merchants’ processing costs, and help keep Australia’s payment system competitive, secure and better supervised."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Since 2006 the Regulations have been used to incorporate later, substantive instruments and to extend operational detail beyond a bare regulatory framework. Concretely: regulation 5 expressly names the Reserve Bank's 2016 interchange‑fee standards (post‑2006 instruments) as the operative standards under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act; regulation 6 expressly authorises the Reserve Bank's ATM Access Regime (imposed in 2009) for competition‑law purposes; and regulations 7–9 prescribe named Commonwealth agencies, their heads, eligible delegates, who may receive or disclose information, and who is protected from civil liability. Those additions expand the Regulations' role from a generic enabling instrument to one that (a) fixes particular external technical standards into the Act's operation and (b) specifies detailed institutional delegations, information‑sharing and liability protections. In that sense the Regulations have grown beyond a narrow, procedural scope to include specific substantive standards and inter‑agency operational arrangements (see regs 5–9)."},"complexity_factors":["Short instrument with 9 numbered regulations but several cross‑references to other Acts (Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998; Competition and Consumer Act 2010; Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006).","Only two defined terms in the Regulations themselves (Act and AUSTRAC) but many external definitions relied on (e.g. meanings of ACCC member, APRA member, SES employee, AUSTRAC entrusted person).","Incorporation by reference of external documents: Reserve Bank Standards No.1 and No.2 of 2016 (reg 5) and the RBA ATM Access Regime (reg 6) — adds complexity because legal effect depends on those external texts and their updates.","Multiple tables (regs 7–9) that prescribe different lists of people and subtle exclusions (e.g. specific paragraph exclusions for AUSTRAC entrusted persons) — increases parsing effort for who exactly is authorised or protected.","Several cross‑legislative cross‑references to provisions in other Acts (e.g. paragraph numbers and definitions in the Competition and Consumer Act, APRA Act, ASIC Act, AML/CTF Act), producing a need to consult multiple statutes to apply the Regulations correctly."],"plain_english_summary":"**What these Regulations do (mechanically)\n\n- Give the instrument a name: the Payment Systems (Regulation) Regulations 2006 (reg 1).\n- Define two terms used in the Regulations: \"Act\" (the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act 1998) and \"AUSTRAC\" (as defined in the Anti‑Money Laundering and Counter‑Terrorism Financing Act 2006) (reg 4).\n- Specify two Reserve Bank standards (the Reserve Bank's 2016 interchange‑fee standards for credit and for debit/prepaid schemes) as the standards referred to in the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act for setting interchange fees (reg 5).\n- Specifically authorise conduct that is carried out in accordance with the Reserve Bank's Access Regime for the ATM System (the Access Regime imposed 3 March 2009) for the purposes of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (reg 6).\n- Prescribe certain Commonwealth agencies (ACCC, APRA, ASIC and AUSTRAC) as \"special regulators\", name the appropriate head of each agency, and list who may be treated as eligible delegates of those heads when the agency is the nominated special regulator for a particular payment system (reg 7, table).\n- Prescribe, for nominated special regulators, which people may be authorised to use or disclose information obtained under the Act (reg 8, table).\n- Prescribe, for nominated special regulators, which people are protected from civil liability when acting under the Act (reg 9, table).\n\nWho is affected\n\n- Reserve Bank of Australia: its interchange‑fee standards and the ATM Access Regime are incorporated by reference (regs 5 and 6).\n- Card schemes, banks and card issuers, merchants and ATM operators: the interchange‑fee standards and the authorised Access Regime set rules that affect payments pricing and ATM access (reg 5 and reg 6).\n- The four named regulators (ACCC, APRA, ASIC and AUSTRAC) and specified officials and staff: the Regulations designate them as \"special regulators\", name their heads, identify eligible delegates and say which people may receive, use or disclose information and who has civil‑liability protection (regs 7–9).\n\nWhy it matters (practical effects and mechanics)\n\n- Locks in particular RBA standards for interchange fees (reg 5): by naming the Reserve Bank's 2016 standards, the Regulations make those documents the operative standards to be applied under the Payment Systems (Regulation) Act. That determines how interchange fees and related net payments to issuers are set for designated card schemes.\n- Authorises the ATM Access Regime (reg 6): conduct done under the RBA's ATM Access Regime is explicitly specified as allowed for competition‑law purposes, reducing the risk that those access arrangements would be treated as unlawful anti‑competitive conduct.\n- Sets which agencies and which people can exercise powers, share and use information, and have legal protection (regs 7–9): those provisions operationalise oversight and enforcement by identifying which regulators can act as \"special regulators\" or as nominated special regulators, which officials may act as delegates, who can receive and use information, and who is immune from civil suits for acting under the Act.\n\nStated purpose claims and testing them against costs and incentives\n\n- Purpose claim (implicit in the text): incorporate Reserve Bank fee standards and an ATM access regime so the Payment Systems Act can be applied consistently and regulators can act to supervise and enforce payment‑system rules (see regs 5–6). \n Testing that claim: incorporating specific RBA standards provides legal certainty about how interchange is to be set (reduces regulatory ambiguity). The trade‑off is that it fixes a particular standard into the regulatory regime; if the RBA standard is updated or contested, affected private parties (card networks, issuers, merchants) may face adjustment costs or limited scope to negotiate different terms. (See reg 5.)\n\n- Purpose claim (implicit): enable coordinated regulatory oversight by naming special regulators and delegations (regs 7–9). \n Testing that claim: prescribing specific agencies (ACCC, APRA, ASIC, AUSTRAC) and people clarifies who decides and who can access information, which reduces operational uncertainty for regulated firms and for the agencies themselves. The trade‑offs are (a) concentration of decision‑making power and discretion in named agencies and (b) extension of information‑sharing and civil‑immunity protections that shift some legal risk away from regulators and onto private parties (see regs 7–9). That reduces litigation risk for officials but also narrows remedies available to third parties in some circumstances.\n\nWho pays, who decides, and how behaviour changes\n\n- Who pays: economic costs fall on the market participants whose pricing is affected by interchange standards — typically merchants (through acceptance costs and fees), cardholders (through product pricing), and card issuers/issuers' shareholders (through changes in net payments). Taxpayers may bear costs of regulatory activity, but the Regulations mainly shift private pricing and contractual arrangements in the payments market (reg 5).\n- Who decides: the Reserve Bank sets the interchange‑fee standards cited (reg 5); the four named agencies (ACCC, APRA, ASIC, AUSTRAC) are given regulatory roles, with specified heads and eligible delegates who can act for them (regs 7–9).\n- Behaviour changes: card schemes and banks must apply the specified interchange rules; ATM operators and participants must operate consistent with the Access Regime authorised in reg 6; regulators can use and disclose information and are protected from civil liability when acting as prescribed, which may make them more willing to share information and exercise powers.\n\nCosts, compliance burden and implementation risk\n\n- Compliance burden: firms in card and ATM markets must follow the RBA standards and the Access Regime; they may need systems and contracts to reflect net payment calculations and access arrangements (reg 5 and reg 6).\n- Implementation risk: the Regulations incorporate external documents (RBA standards and the ATM Access Regime). If those external instruments change or are challenged, there is legal and operational complexity in determining which version applies and how updates interact with the Act (reg 5 and reg 6).\n- Bureaucratic discretion and legal protection: detailed prescriptions for which regulators and which staff can act or receive information centralise discretion and provide civil immunity in specified cases, which reduces litigation risk for official action but raises the possibility of limited legal remedies for private parties (regs 7–9).\n\nConcentrated benefits and diffuse costs (mechanisms, not labels)\n\n- Concentrated benefits: entities that receive net payments (issuers) or that benefit from clarified access rules (some ATM operators) gain from a codified standard (reg 5 and reg 6). \n- Diffuse costs: merchants and end consumers bear the effects of interchange‑fee settings in the form of prices or acceptance fees. The Regulations create legally certain outcomes that benefit specific market participants (those favoured by the standard) while imposing small per‑unit costs across many consumers and merchants.\n\nSummary references to the Regulations' operative provisions\n\n- Interchange standards specified: regulation 5 (incorporates Reserve Bank Standards No. 1 and No. 2 of 2016). \n- ATM Access Regime authorised: regulation 6 (authorises conduct done in accordance with the Access Regime for the ATM System, imposed 3 March 2009). \n- Special regulators, their heads and eligible delegates: regulation 7 (table listing ACCC, APRA, ASIC, AUSTRAC and specified persons). \n- Persons authorised to use or disclose information when an agency is a nominated special regulator: regulation 8 (table). \n- Persons protected from civil liability when an agency is a nominated special regulator: regulation 9 (table)."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/payment-systems-regulation-regulations-2006","history":"/api/acts/payment-systems-regulation-regulations-2006/history","analysis":"/api/acts/payment-systems-regulation-regulations-2006/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/payment-systems-regulation-regulations-2006/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/payment-systems-regulation-regulations-2006/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/payment-systems-regulation-regulations-2006/documents"}}