Treasury released a consultation paper in August 2023 seeking input on the development of changes to consent procedures and further operational enhancements to the Competition and Consumer (Consumer Data Right) Rules 2020 (the CDR rules).

Treasury and the Data Standards Body are exploring opportunities to simplify the CDR Rules and standards to support better consumer experiences while maintaining key consumer protections. The design paper seeks stakeholder feedback on a number of change proposals relating to rules and standards for CDR consents. 

AGL has been a consistent and vocal supporter of the CDR regime as an economy wide model that enables consumers to have access to, and control over, data that directly relates to them. The key to the success of CDR is consumer awareness and confidence in using the system. As such, AGL welcomes a review of CDR consent mechanisms to better support consumer experiences and support intuitive, informed and trustworthy experiences that enable positive outcomes.

AGL supports measures which will allow CDR consumers to better protect and make informed decisions about their data. However, we have a number of concerns in respect of how the fundamental consent construct would be changed by the proposed amendments.

As an overarching comment, these fundamental changes to consent out to be driven by consumer demand and we encourage Treasury to consider addressing optimisation of consent in the strategic assessment scheduled for late 2024.

Read the full submission here.