Small Business

05 Jul 2024

Payment times reforms pass

Amendments to the Payment Times Reporting Act 2020 passed Parliament this week.  

The amendments implement recommendations made through the Statutory Review conducted by Dr Craig Emerson last year. The Bill amends the objects of the Payment Times Reporting Act to better express the purpose of the Payment Times Reporting Scheme, as well as make amendments to the operation of the Act to simplify reporting and reduce regulatory burdens for reporting entities. This will also allow small businesses to interpret relevant payment times data more easily, which is currently convoluted. The Bill also increases pressure on slow-paying entities by increasing naming and shaming capabilities, including through a new ‘slow small business payer’ direction ability for the Minister for Small Business. 

The Senate also made an additional amendment to introduce an incentive for reporting entities to speed up their payment times. The amendment requires the Payment Times Regulator to maintain and publish a list of ‘fast small business payers’, those with a payment time of 20 days or less.  

Work on these reforms will continue, with rules accompanying the legislation to be consulted on in the coming months, which we will engage with. The rules will outline the content requirements for payment times reports in line with the recommendation of the statutory review.  







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