Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I will confine my remarks to an amendment that I will be moving; I think it is important to refer to it in the second reading stage. My primary concern about this bill relates to any potential to offshore the information that will be obtained by virtue of these changes. I acknowledge and support the government's intentions in this bill and I agree that granting the registrar the power—for example, to utilise a debt collector to retrieve unpaid amounts—will help to streamline operations. However, we need to make sure that the third parties who act under the registrar's delegated powers treat any information they receive appropriately.

I have spoken previously about my concerns with the 'big 4' banks sending personal information offshore for processing. A survey I commissioned, along with the Finance Sector Union, in 2009 shows that 91 per cent of Australians would choose a bank that did not send their personal information overseas. A further 83 per cent of people believe that banks should get written permission before sending personal information offshore. So there is a concern that when you are dealing with sensitive information it should not be sent offshore. There are concerns about the security of that information. It is much better to keep it onshore. It is good in terms of the personal and financial security of Australians and it protects Australian jobs.

I am grateful for the discussions I have had with Minister Plibersek's office in relation to this and for the government's willingness to support this amendment. I would urge all my colleagues to do so. It is a fairly straightforward amendment. I note that during Senate estimates when I asked questions of the Australian Taxation Office on their debt-collecting procedures—their outsourcing of debt collection—they said, categorically, they do not offshore that information. It is important that there are guarantees this does not occur here with this particular department.