When a bank, supermarket or super fund gets into trouble, one of a handful of regulators is usually involved. Here’s who does what, and how they keep business in check.
Australia has several regulators that oversee business. The most prominent are the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
ASIC
ASIC regulates companies, financial markets and financial services.
It registers companies, oversees directors’ duties and corporate reporting, supervises the share market and other financial markets, and licenses and regulates financial advisers, credit providers, fund managers and insurers’ conduct.
It can investigate wrongdoing, ban people from working in financial services or managing companies, and take civil or criminal action in the courts.
ASIC has taken action over issues including misleading financial products, insider trading, greenwashing and poor treatment of customers.
The ACCC
The ACCC enforces competition and consumer protection laws across the economy.
On competition, it targets cartels, where businesses agree to fix prices or share markets, and reviews mergers. From January 2026, it operates a mandatory merger approval system, so large deals must be notified to it before they go ahead.
On consumer protection, it targets misleading or deceptive conduct, unfair contract terms and unsafe products.
It also regulates some industries with limited competition, and conducts inquiries, such as into supermarket prices and digital platforms.
APRA
APRA is the prudential regulator. Its job is to make sure banks, credit unions, building societies, insurers and most super funds are financially sound and can meet their obligations to depositors, policyholders and members.
It sets rules on how much capital banks must hold, how they manage risk, and lending standards. For example, it sets a “serviceability buffer” requiring banks to check borrowers could afford their mortgage repayments if interest rates rose by several percentage points.
The others
The Reserve Bank of Australia sets interest rates and oversees the stability of the financial system and payment systems.
The Australian Taxation Office administers tax and superannuation laws.
AUSTRAC tracks money laundering and terrorism financing, and has secured some of Australia’s biggest corporate penalties, including against Westpac, Commonwealth Bank and casino operators.
The Council of Financial Regulators brings the RBA, APRA, ASIC and Treasury together to coordinate.
Twin peaks
Australia’s system is sometimes described as a “twin peaks” model, because it splits the regulation of financial firms’ safety, handled by APRA, from the regulation of their conduct towards customers, handled by ASIC.
The banking royal commission in 2019 criticised regulators for being too slow to take firms to court, and they’ve since become more willing to pursue enforcement action.
