Cash mandate exemption requests piling up at regulator

ABOVE: Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers - his department confirmed bankless towns across regional Australia are not protected by his cash mandate regulations.

SUPERMARKETS and fuel retailers are trying to get out of obligations to accept cash payments under new industry codes introduced by the Federal Government, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has confirmed.

The commission (ACCC) says “multiple” applications for exceptional circumstances exemptions have been received from retailers in both regional and metropolitan areas, but none have yet been accepted or rejected.

“The ACCC is assessing the exemption applications it has received and has not yet made a decision on an exemption application,” a spokesman said today.

The Cash Acceptance Industry Codes – heavily criticised by cash advocates for not going far enough and flawed exemptions that impact regional areas – were made law by the Federal Government in January without putting the changes to a vote.

A disallowance motion in the Senate that initially had the support of One Nation, the Greens, the Coalition and independent David Pocock was defeated in March after the Liberals and Nationals turned tail on their original commitment to support it.

Liberal Alex Antic was the only member of the Coalition to honour the pledge made by Liberal Senator Slade Brockman a week earlier, crossing the floor to vote for the motion.

The Cash Acceptance Industry Codes, administered by the ACCC, require certain supermarket retailers and motor fuel retailers to ensure a customer has a reasonable opportunity to pay in cash for in-person transactions of $500 or less, from the hours of 7am to 9pm.

Under questioning from West Australian One Nation Senator Tyron Whitten during senate estimates in December 2025, a Treasury official confirmed that affected businesses in towns without banks could be eligible for an exemption under exceptional circumstances provisions due to difficulties obtaining cash floats or depositing business takings.

The commission would not confirm the number of exceptional circumstances applications it has received.

It also gave no indication of when a decision on the applications would be made, saying only that any exemption granted would be published on the Federal Register of Legislation and the ACCC’s website.

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