Nicolette Boele (Bradfield, Independent) | Hansard source

Recently, a constituent of mine asked me a question: why is it that if a bank is robbed of a million dollars there'd be a major investigation and a criminal would be sent to jail, but if a scammer steals a million dollars from someone's bank account the consequences are far less certain? Unfortunately, this wasn't a hypothetical. This constituent was the victim of an investment scam, and he lost almost $1 million—that's life-changing money—but there were minimal consequences for those responsible.

Scammers prey on vulnerable people who often aren't tech literate or may not be fluent English speakers, but we're all at risk. Everyday life, including many government services, relies on us transacting online, and scams affect far too many people. Australians reported a staggering $2.18 billion in scam losses in 2025 alone, and in my community across Bradfield, from Wahroonga to Northbridge, the figure is in the millions of dollars every single week. But let me be clear: the costs are not just financial. Many victims are deeply ashamed and fearful, hiding their identity to avoid family pressure or social repercussions. With AI, it's becoming even harder to identify a hoax. We are now in a frightening world where AI voice agents can replicate your family members or friends asking for money.

Everyone has a role to play in preventing and responding to scams—the banks, the telco providers, digital platforms—and government needs to ensure the right protection framework and penalties are in place, which appropriately shares responsibilities and consequences among those with the power to act. It's great to have the government continuing to develop its Scams Prevention Framework. The framework seeks to prevent, detect and disrupt scams, prevent scammers from using a service in the first place and actively look for scams and then disrupt them once they've been found. The draft rules are a big step forward, but we can do better.

I've made a submission this week on how to strengthen the rules, and I'm calling for stronger reimbursements to ensure people are appropriately compensated. The average scam is worth roughly $7½ thousand, so the automatic reimbursement cap should be raised to that level from the proposed $3,000. I'm also calling for obligations on digital platforms to proactively identify and block repeat scammers rather than just react to reported scams. I'm calling for strong obligations on banks and telcos to prevent scams from occurring through disrupting scam emails and messages and to create effective and timely scam reporting mechanisms. I'll keep pushing to ensure that my community is protected from scams and scammers.

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