Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2025

Senator McKIM (Tasmania—Australian Greens Whip) (18:48): I seek leave to move the Australian Greens amendment on sheet 3324. Leave granted. Senator McKIM: I move: SHEET 3324 At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate: (a) notes that: (i) the bill fails to address the jurisdictional impediments to enforcement of laws against offshore social media companies, (ii) any measures or civil penalties the bill imposes on online platforms will be unenforceable and require voluntary compliance, (iii) the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society considered the impact of online scams and jurisdictional impediments and recommended that the Australian Government consider options for greater enforceability of Australian laws for social media platforms, including amending regulation and legislation to effectively bring digital platforms under Australian jurisdiction; and (b) calls on the Government to urgently act to bring digital platforms under Australian jurisdiction and ensure jurisdiction is not an impediment to enforcement measures in the bill".

The PRESIDENT: The question is that the Australian Greens amendments on sheets 3294 and 3324 be agreed to. Australian Greens' circulated amendment— SHEET 3294 At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate: (a) notes that: (i) too many people and their families experience significant harm from scams each year, (ii) instead of implementing a best practice model to prevent scams, Labor has caved to the interests of the major banks and their multi-billion-dollar profits, and (iii) under Labor's bill, it would take a person impacted by a scam up to 30 steps and 2 years to seek redress, and at the end of the process there is no guarantee they will get any of their money back; and (b) calls on the Government to amend the bill to include a presumption of reimbursement, similar to the United Kingdom model, which would require banks to promptly reimburse people who have been scammed, and then recover costs from other businesses involved in the scam in proportion to their liability, including telcos and digital platforms".