10/12/2025
The Coalition has warned that the Government’s Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) will force millions of Australians to pay for Labor’s refusal to address deep problems within ASIC.
Shadow Minister for Financial Services Pat Conaghan said the Government’s announcement on the 2026 special CSLR levy confirmed that everyday Australians super balances, large banks, financial advisers, and broader investment products would all be slapped with this new tax.
“The CSLR levy has already blown out dramatically, and it will only get bigger from here. The 2027 levy estimate is already $137 million – and that’s without the First Guardian and Shield collapse, which could see it double. It is now so large that every Australian will be forced to foot the bill for the Government’s inaction,” Mr Conaghan said.
“A scheme designed to compensate victims must be sustainable. Right now, the CSLR is constantly running out of money, and almost a year after the Government announced a post-implementation review, it still has no credible plan to stabilise the scheme. Once again Labor’s solution is a bigger tax.”
“Even the ACTU has publicly criticised Treasurer Jim Chalmers – declaring that working people should not have to pay for ASIC’s failures. They’re right on this. The Treasurer hasn’t even bothered to update the Statement of Expectations for ASIC since he got the job over three years ago despite numerous claims that he would. He’s been asleep at the wheel and Australians are paying the cost.”
“Gallingly, while ASIC’s failure has required millions of everyday Australians to pay into this scheme, the Government has instead rushed through legislation to reduce the number of Financial Regulator Assessment Authority reviews of the regulator from every two-years to every five-years. That’s an insulting watering-down of regulator accountability that we put in place following the Financial Services Royal Commission.”
“I am glad that financial advisers aren’t the only ones being asked to pay into this scheme of course. Financial advisers that have done nothing wrong shouldn’t be left to carry the full load when things go wrong. Our hope is that at the end of all of this we will have a more sustainable and fairer scheme.”
Mr Conaghan said the CSLR’s ballooning cost was a direct result of the Government’s failure to address longstanding problems inside ASIC.
“When ASIC fails, Australians pay. And under this Government, they are paying more every year,” he said.
“Australians deserve a compensation scheme that is fair and sustainable, and a regulator capable of preventing failures in the first.”
