Industry players call for clearer CDR roadmap

FinTech Australia and Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) have called for the government to develop a consolidated industry consumer data right (CDR) roadmap.

According to the two industry players, there is a lack of clarity around the direction of the CDR and this should be co-created with stakeholders.

Speaking to iTnews, FDATA regional director for Australia and New Zealand Mathew Mytka said that while the government has set up some websites dedicated to the CDR rollout, this “is reasonably disparate and fractured”.

He said these sites are “actually retrospective” with only “some content in there that's about future direction”.

“It's actually not necessarily doing a very good job in helping people understand the strategic direction and the what, the when, and the how to get involved in that direction itself.”

He added the Future Directions Report for the CDR [pdf] released in 2021 did include government agreement for an integrated, comprehensive roadmap, but this has “not necessarily followed".

Mytka said that ideally as professionals seek to build technology solutions, “you'd have something really, really comprehensive to provide that [underpinning] strategic direction - and we just don’t have that”.

“This is a cross-sector economy-wide reform that has a lot of complexity to it and requires a lot of different stakeholders to be on the same page," he said.

“The absence of that [strategy] has created a lot of problems in terms of people understanding where this thing is going.”

He said the lack of clarity “leads to a whole bunch of problems with businesses trying to plan when they're looking for certainty of budgets, how they allocate resources, but also just costs that are borne across the whole effectiveness.”

Earlier this month the government announced a further $88.8 million over two years from 2023 to 2024 to support CDR operations, which Mytka argued could partly fund the development of a roadmap.  

Mytka added the change in government has caused some of the issues.

"Treasury inherited a whole bunch of baggage from the Morrison government and probably some ineffectiveness in how things were being done in terms of that process," he said.

Mytka said he would like to see one portal with clear time horizons, complete with detail and the ability for stakeholders to “get involved in contributing to this intergenerational reform”.

FinTech Australia General Manager Rehan D’Almeida said “the $88.8 million allocated in this federal budget is money well spent.” 

“We know the CDR will play a crucial role in improving the quality of services offered to Australians, growing their overall financial literacy and in turn bolstering the economy,” D’Almeida said.

“Building on this, we’re calling for policy makers to chart the future of the rollout and ensure we maximise the impact of these funds.

“Much like the federal government, we believe the CDR will be an agent of change for the Australian economy, and wish to see it fully implemented as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible.”

Both parties opted to speak up ahead of CDR Month and legislation due to pass parliament on action initiation that will let consumers automate payments and money management.

Mytka said action initiation was also called out in the Future Directions report, and “has consistently been called out as a missing component ... needing clarity”.