APRA releases policy and supervision priorities for 2023

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released its policy and supervision priorities for 2023. 

Consistent with the strategic objectives in APRA’s latest Corporate Plan, the papers outline APRA’s key focus areas as it continues to protect financial stability and the interests of bank depositors, insurance policyholders and superannuation members. 

The annual papers set a series of goals for the next 12-18 months to provide stakeholders with a consolidated and transparent workplan with timeframes that enables more efficient forward-planning.

At a time of global economic uncertainty, APRA’s 2023 agenda focuses on embedding recent regulatory reforms, as well as bolstering operational resilience and ensuring entities have sufficient financial strength to act as a buffer against any emerging financial stresses.  

Key policy priorities for 2023 include:

• completing key reforms to strengthen the financial and operational resilience of APRA-regulated entities, and improve outcomes for superannuation members;
• progressing APRA’s plan to modernise the prudential architecture, a core strategic initiative designed to make the framework clearer, simpler and more adaptable; and
• reviewing core standards, including governance and the regulation of conglomerate groups.

Key supervision priorities for 2023 include:

• heightened supervision on cyber resilience through detailed assessments and rigorous pursuit of breaches;
• embedding the capital reforms for banks and insurers;
• continuing to hold trustees to account to improve superannuation member outcomes; and
• ongoing work to address challenges in the availability, affordability and sustainability of insurance.

Chair John Lonsdale said APRA was aiming to build on its major policy reforms of recent years.

“In an environment of rising interest rates and inflation, declining property prices and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, APRA’s 2023 priorities seek to ensure that we can swiftly address today’s risks as well as new challenges beyond the horizon.

“Following several years of regulatory reform, 2023 will bring a lighter APRA policy load. This will help regulated entities focus on embedding prior major reforms such as capital reforms in banking and insurance, as well as responding to challenges in the operating environment in the period ahead. 

“We will continue to lean into key supervision priority areas. Operational resilience, including cyber preparedness, continues to grow in importance as a supervisory priority, with the significant data breaches at Optus and Medibank late last year underscoring just why. We have important work to do on climate risk, governance, culture and recovery planning while the superannuation sector can expect no let-up in our efforts to expose and eradicate underperforming products or actions that are contrary to members’ best interests,” Mr Lonsdale said.

Copies of APRA's Policy and Supervision Priorities are available at: Supervision and policy priorities.