Now lawMoney & Tax Introduced in the House of Representatives, 02 Jul 2026

Competition watchdog can keep cash flowing during changes

Australia's new law on moving cash around needed other laws changed to work. This partner law does that. It also gives the competition watchdog two years of emergency powers over the prices and services of the companies that move cash.

Official name: Cash Distribution Framework (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Banks, shops and cash machine owners: The watchdog can order the main cash company to serve them on set terms in the first two years.
• Companies that truck cash around: A company named under the new rules must follow any short-term order. It must tell customers about the watchdog's power when making deals.
• Directors of cash companies: For a short time, they cannot be blamed for trading while broke, while the Reserve Bank thinks about stepping in.
• People who use cash: The aim is to stop cash machines and shops running short of cash while the new rules are set up.

One firm moves most cash

Fewer people pay with cash now. That has squeezed the companies that truck notes and coins to banks, shops and cash machines. Two companies joined in 2023. Now one company, Armaguard, does more than 90 per cent of this work.

Parliament passed a main law to set rules for these companies. It lets the Reserve Bank of Australia name the important ones. The Reserve Bank is the country's central bank.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can then keep watch on their prices and set service levels. It is the competition and consumer watchdog. The Reserve Bank can take over one that is failing.

This partner law changes four other laws so the main law fits with them. It also covers the gap before the new rules are fully running. Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the minister in charge of the economy, brought in both laws.

This gap matters for a reason. The watchdog has a deal with Armaguard that limits its price rises and keeps its service levels. That deal ends in September 2026.

Temporary watchdog orders

Setting up standard terms and service levels under the main law will take time. So for up to 24 months after the law starts, the watchdog can give a short-term order to a company named under the new rules.

The order can tell the company to start serving a new customer. It can also tell it to keep serving a customer it already has. The watchdog sets the terms and prices. It can also make the company report back to it.

The watchdog can only do this if it has good reason to believe there is a risk. The risk must be one that could badly cut off people's access to cash during this time.

Orders do not cover contracts signed before the company was named. That changes if the contract is changed later.

Say a country bank's contract for cash deliveries runs out. The main cash company then asks for a much higher price. The watchdog could order it to keep delivering on set terms while the full rules are worked out.

When making new deals, the company must tell the other side in writing that the watchdog has this power. It must also say if an order applies.

Courts cannot pause an order while a challenge is heard. Parliament cannot cancel these orders either. The government says this avoids doubt. A company that ignores an order can be fined. The fine is 50,000 penalty units (about $16.5 million, at $330 a unit) or three times what it gained, whichever is more. A penalty unit is a set dollar amount used to work out fines in federal law.

Competition law changes

The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 is changed. That is the main national law on competition and shoppers' rights. The watchdog can now use its usual power to demand information and papers for the new cash rules.

Information given to the watchdog under the cash rules is kept secret. The watchdog can share it with the Reserve Bank. It can also accept written promises from companies that a court can make them keep.

Company and payment law changes

The Corporations Act 2001 is the main law for companies. Directors are the people who run a company. Under the Corporations Act, directors can be made to pay out of their own pocket if their company keeps taking on debts it cannot pay. This is called insolvent trading.

Under the main law, a cash company in trouble must tell the Reserve Bank before it calls in administrators. Administrators are outside experts who take over a company that is going broke.

This law gives directors a safe harbour for that short time. That is a legal shield. It only covers debts taken on in the normal course of business. It also covers debts the Reserve Bank or a court agreed to.

The Reserve Bank can also ask a court to close down some of these companies.

The Payment Systems and Netting Act 1998 is updated. That law protects how banks settle what they owe each other. Those protections still apply if the Reserve Bank steps in.

Reserve Bank law changes

The Reserve Bank Act 1959 is changed too. The bank's Payments System Board is the group that sets its rules for payments. It must now also make sure the new powers are used in the best way to keep cash available.

The Reserve Bank's secrecy rules are updated. It can share information with the watchdog. It can also share it with any manager it puts in to run a failing company.

Reserve Bank staff and board members cannot be sued or charged for things done honestly under the new cash rules.

Start date

This law started at the same time as the main cash law. That was the day after it was signed into law.

It went to the House of Representatives on 2 July 2026. The House agreed to seven changes from the government. It passed the bill on 12 August 2026. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 20 August 2026.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 26 August 2026. It is now Act No. 69 of 2026.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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