Australian government proposes extending Consumer Data Right to tax data

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers

The 2026–27 federal Budget, handed down in Canberra on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, included measures to extend Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR) to explore the potential for taxpayers to safely share their tax data.

This was a featured use case at Friday’s “Fintech Data Horizons Summit” hosted by FinTech Australia in Sydney.

Speaking on a panel at the Summit, the Australian Banking Association’s Chief of Policy, Christopher Taylor advocated for the inclusion of government data sets in CDR to drive uptake and deliver better outcomes.

Income misrepresentation is a growing risk to lending, from consumers inflating borrowing power to AI-enabled fraud by organised crime.

According to Friday’s panel, the fix is moving lending away from less secure methods such as screen scraping, email attachments and physical documents, and allowing consumers to share Australian Taxation Office (ATO) data through CDR.

Delivering the federal Budget on Tuesday night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed key Budget details impacting fintech as follows:

1. “Tell-Us-Once” approach: The government is investing $654.3 million in Digital ID to streamline engagement with government, which includes exploring the sharing of ATO data via the CDR framework. This will support digital verification across financial services, streamline new customer onboarding, and help tackle fraud.

2. Sectoral expansion: The Budget confirms the government is open to extending CDR, with a focus on enabling individuals and businesses to securely share data held by government agencies, specifically targeting ATO-held data for enhanced utility in the CDR reset priority use cases of consumer lending and small business accounting.

3. Purpose: The integration aims to allow taxpayers to share their ATO data, such as income records, directly with accredited third parties to streamline loan applications, reducing the burden on consumers, and helping lenders to comply with their responsible lending obligations.

A further A$62 million is being invested into CDR to find new ways for customers to use their own data, and boost productivity.

Productivity Commissioner Stephen King said at Friday’s Summit that A$116 billion of annual GDP uplift can be unlocked via better data sharing, equating to A$440k per person per annum.

The Budget move is a key step in strengthening the CDR, with industry bodies Australian Banking Association, Customer Owned Banking Association, Australian Finance Industry Association, Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia, and FinTech Australia all supporting a “unity ticket” for the inclusion of ATO data as a “point of truth” for income verification.

FinTech Australia CEO, Rehan D’Almeida, said “this is a win.”

FinTech Australia welcomed continued funding for Digital Identity and CDR, including exploration of expanded access to government-held data through the CDR framework.

“These systems are foundational digital infrastructure for the future economy,” D’Almeida said.

“However, unlocking their full economic value will require stable long-term funding, practical implementation and continued focus on reducing unnecessary compliance friction,” D’Almeida added.

“Both lenders and borrowers — consumers and businesses — can benefit from this,” said Steve Kemp, Head of Strategic Relationships at SISS Data Services, a CDR accredited data recipient.

“Lenders will have a better understanding of credit risk, and borrowers won’t have to hand over physical documents,” Kemp added.

“Overall, it’s a huge win for CDR and a catalyst for widespread adoption,” he concluded.

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