Ai Group welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed legislative amendments to the Payment Times Reporting Act 2020.

The Payment Times Reporting Scheme (PTRS) increases transparency around the payment performance of large businesses to small businesses. Its objectives are two-fold: to provide small businesses with information when deciding on potential customers, and to drive cultural change to improve payment times.

The Statutory Review of the Payment Times Reporting Act 2020, completed by The Hon Dr Craig Emerson in June last year, identified several areas where the PTRS was functioning poorly with respect to the objectives of the Act. It made thirteen recommendations, of which the Government response indicated “Agreement” with twelve and “In Principle Agreement” with the thirteenth.

Ai Group commends the Government for incorporating several of these suggested reforms in its proposed amendments to the Act. However, Ai Group has several concerns regarding some of the proposed changes to the Act.