Banking Act 1959
|
|
| Regulator |
APRA / Commonwealth |
| Jurisdiction |
AU |
| Status |
live |
| Applicability |
Platform |
The Banking Act 1959 is the primary federal statute governing Authorised Deposit-taking
Institutions (ADIs) in Australia. It grants APRA the power to authorise ADIs (S.9), issue
binding prudential standards, give directions to ADIs (S.11CA), and exercise a suite of
enforcement powers up to and including revocation of authority. Key substantive provisions
for banks include the protected accounts framework (Part II Division 2A), restrictions on
banking business (S.7), and the basis for APRA's prudential standard-making powers —
including the CPS, APS, LPS, and GPS series.
The APRA standards (CPS 220, CPS 230, APS 110, APS 210, etc.) are the operative compliance
instruments for most ongoing obligations. This register covers the Banking Act framing
obligations. See the individual APRA standard registers for system-level controls.
Section references are indicative — refer to the Act as in force for precise statutory language.
Compliance register
This register maps every material obligation under the Act to the platform control or
institutional process that satisfies it. It is the static traceability layer for the Totara
compliance report — dynamic data (module build status, test evidence, control test dates) is
overlaid at runtime.
Scope legend
| Symbol |
Meaning |
| 🤖 Automated |
Platform enforces or performs the obligation. Primary control mode is GATE, AUTO, CALC, or ALERT. Human action is not required in the normal case. |
| 📊 Evidenced |
Platform captures the evidence trail automatically. Human compliance decision sits on top. Primary control mode is LOG. |
| 🏛 Institutional |
Obligation is met by a process entirely outside the platform — training programmes, board governance, HR, legal. Platform may generate evidence inputs but does not own the process. |
| N/A |
Obligation does not apply to this deployment configuration. |
Build legend
| Symbol |
Meaning |
| ✅ |
Module built and deployed |
| 🔨 |
Module planned — not yet built (build_status: Not started) |
| ❌ |
Uncontrolled gap — no module attributed |
Part II — Authority to carry on banking business
| Ref |
Obligation |
Scope |
Policy |
Platform controls |
Build |
| S.7 |
Prohibition on carrying on banking business without APRA authority |
🏛 Institutional |
— |
ADI authorisation is an institutional obligation. APRA grants and maintains the authority. Not platform scope. |
— |
| S.9 |
Obligation to maintain ADI authorisation and comply with its conditions |
🏛 Institutional |
— |
Authorisation maintenance is a regulatory engagement and governance process. Board and executive accountable. |
— |
| S.11CA |
Obligation to comply with APRA directions |
🏛 Institutional |
— |
Direction compliance is an executive and board governance obligation. Platform provides the data and operational infrastructure to execute directions. |
— |
| S.66 |
Restrictions on use of the word "bank" |
🏛 Institutional |
— |
Brand and naming compliance is a legal and marketing governance obligation. Not platform scope. |
— |
Part II Division 2A — Protection of depositors
| Ref |
Obligation |
Scope |
Policy |
Platform controls |
Build |
| S.13A |
Protected accounts must be held in Australia and accessible by depositors |
🤖 Automated |
REP-008 |
MOD-057 (AUTO) — statistical returns confirm protected account balances to APRA on schedule; account architecture enforces AU residency of protected account holdings |
🔨 |
| S.16AF |
Report protected account balances to APRA for depositor priority purposes |
🤖 Automated |
REP-008 |
MOD-057 (AUTO) — APRA Statistical Returns (ARS) produced automatically from the governed data pipeline; no manual data extraction |
🔨 |
APRA reporting and prudential standards
| Ref |
Obligation |
Scope |
Policy |
Platform controls |
Build |
| S.61 |
Provision of statistical information and returns to APRA as required |
🤖 Automated |
REP-008 |
MOD-057 (AUTO) — statistical returns and survey engine automates preparation and submission of all APRA statistical returns from the governed Snowflake data pipeline |
🔨 |
| Prudential standards |
Ongoing compliance with APRA prudential standards (CPS, APS, LPS series) |
📊 Evidenced |
GOV-005 |
MOD-047 (LOG) — FAR accountable person accountability evidenced by action logs under their remit; see individual APRA standard registers for system-level controls |
🔨 |
The following obligations under the Act are the responsibility of the institution, not the platform.
The platform may generate evidence inputs but does not own these processes.
| Obligation |
Owner |
Platform evidence input |
| Maintaining ADI authorisation and engaging with APRA on licence conditions |
CEO / Board |
Institutional regulatory engagement process |
| Board and executive accountability under the Financial Accountability Regime |
Board / FAR Accountable Persons |
MOD-047 (LOG) provides action log evidence for FAR accountability statements |
| Responding to APRA examinations, self-assessments, and Prudential Inquiry requests |
Chief Risk Officer / General Counsel |
MOD-057 provides statistical data; MOD-033 provides capital position; MOD-047/MOD-048 provide audit trail |
| Capital remediation planning and recovery plan maintenance |
Chief Risk Officer / Board |
MOD-033 (CALC) provides capital ratio inputs; planning and determination is institutional |
| Notifying APRA of material matters (significant events, breaches of prudential standards) |
CEO / Chief Risk Officer |
MOD-150 (ALERT) auto-escalates material risk events to the CRO for assessment; determination and notification are institutional |
Coverage summary
| Area |
Total obligations |
Platform automated 🤖 |
Platform evidenced 📊 |
Institutional 🏛 |
N/A |
| ADI authority and restrictions |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
| Protected depositors |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Reporting and standards |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Total |
8 |
3 (38%) |
1 (13%) |
4 (50%) |
0 |
The regulatory relationship with APRA — authorisation, directions compliance, examination
responses — is institutional. The platform's role is to provide the statistical reporting
infrastructure and the prudential data that evidence compliance with APRA's prudential
standards. All attributed modules are currently build_status: Not started.
| Policy |
Title |
| GOV-005 |
Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) Policy |
| REP-008 |
Statistical & Survey Reporting Policy |
See individual APRA prudential standard registers (au-aps-110, au-aps-210, au-cps-220, au-cps-230, etc.)
for system-level controls against the APRA standards made under this Act.
Official documentation
Policies referencing this standard
- GOV-005 — Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) Policy
- REP-008 — Statistical & survey reporting
Compiled 2026-05-22 from source/entities/regulations/au-banking-act.yaml