Treasury said its decision was “in line with recommendations from the independent statutory review that further time is needed to allow the CDR to mature”.

The announcement said that in the federal budget the government announced a range of measures investing in a more productive and safer digital future including a further investment in the CDR of $88.8 million over two years, with a focus on:

• Improving data quality and driving participation in banking and energy.
• Implementing the CDR in non-bank lending undertaking detailed policy and design work on action and payment initiation.
• Cyber security improvements across all CDR agencies to reflect the evolving data landscape.
• Expanding awareness of CDR as a trusted, safer data-sharing model that allows consumers to easily identify CDR-enabled providers, products and services.

“In line with recommendations from the independent Statutory Review that further time is needed to allow the CDR to mature, the government has made the decision to pause expansion into superannuation, insurance and telecommunications,” the announcement said.

“This will allow time to focus on ensuring that the CDR in banking is working as effectively as possible, extending into the non-bank lending sector and continuing with the energy rollout as planned.”

Further, the newsletter announcement said the “expansion of the CDR to allow action initiation will continue to be progressed. The assessment and development of a robust framework to support the future implementation of action initiation will occur in close consultation with stakeholders.”

It stated that funding has also been allocated to increase consumer awareness of the CDR by developing a trust brand strategy to help consumers identify where they can access CDR-powered providers, products and services.

“The government also plans to undertake a strategic assessment of the CDR towards the end of 2024 to inform future expansions, including superannuation, insurance and telecommunications, as well as the implementation of action initiation,” it continued.

The proposal to include ‘action initiation’ into CDR has been a controversial issue as it would allow fintechs or other service providers to perform certain types of actions on a customer’s behalf, such as opening or closing an account.

Under the proposed model, a customer may never need to interact directly with a bank and can manage their relationship at arm’s length.