Western Australia mortgage stamp duty changes

The Western Australia Premier has announced that stamp duty on mortgages would be halved on July 1, 2006 and completely abolished by July 2008.

Also, from January 1, 2007 stamp duty on hiring transactions will be completely abolished.

The Government has also committed to abolish stamp duty on the sale of 'non-real' business property such as goodwill, intellectual property and statutory licences, from July 1 2010.

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Privacy case note: is marital status necessary?

In D v Banking Institution [2006] PrivCmrA 4 the complainant alleged that the banking institution was gathering unnecessary marital status information for the purpose of opening a deposit account.

The banking institution advised the complainant that it was unable to open the account without entering information into the 'marital status' field on its computer system. It offered a 'workaround' as system changes could not occur quickly. (The workaround was that it would use the response of “single” in the mandatory data field, and it would include a note stating that the entry may not reflect actual marital status.)

The Commissioner's view was that the collection of marital status information for the purposes of opening a deposit account was unnecessary. The banking institution agreed that the collection of marital status information would not be considered necessary for its functions or activities; in this case because the complainant’s marital status had no bearing on the complainant’s eligibility to open the account.

In consultation with the Commissioner, the banking institution agreed that it would change its computer system so that when individuals applied for a deposit account, they would no longer be required to disclose their marital status if they did not wish to. Further the banking institution agreed to report to the Commissioner on the progress of the implementation program and would also raise the matter with its industry body as it appeared to be an industry-wide practice.

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APRA fit and proper person standards

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released three new fit and proper standards for acceptable practice in the appointment of Board directors, senior management, and certain auditors and actuaries: APS 520 Fit and Proper (for authorised deposit-taking institutions), LPS 520 Fit and Proper (for life companies) and GPS 520 Fit and Proper (for general insurers).

The standards come into effect from 1 October, 2006.

The framework consists of principles-based prudential standards and separate prudential practice guides, which provide non-binding guidance on meeting these new standards and on prudent practices in fit and proper matters.

Prudential Practice Guide APG 520 Fit And Proper (ADI's)
General Insurance Prudential Practice Guides
Life Insurance Prudential Practice Guides

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