Australia's Scams Framework Criticized Over Major Exclusions

Treasury Submissions Want Broader Coverage; Gaps Could Weaken Protections Suparna Goswami (gsuparna) • January 7, 2026

Australia's proposed Scams Prevention Framework leaves key scam-enabling entities outside its initial scope, raising questions about whether the model can deliver the consumer protection it promises.

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The Scams Prevention Framework is a regulatory regime designed to reduce scam-related harm by imposing mandatory prevention, detection and response obligations on banks, telecom providers and major digital platforms.

Treasury submissions show that stakeholders are calling for the inclusion of non-bank payment service providers, cryptocurrency platforms, email services and voice-over-Internet-protocol communications, among others under the regulations, arguing these channels form the backbone of how scams are initiated and monetized.

The National Anti-Scam Centre in its Q4 2024 report identified email as one of the most common points of contact for scammers. Despite being a major ...