ob体育鈥檚 program of transformation continued in 2023鈥�24, according to the agency鈥檚 latest annual report.
ob体育 Chair Joe Longo said the report highlighted a range of key regulatory and enforcement outcomes focused on protecting consumers, reducing costs for businesses, and strengthening capabilities.
鈥榃e have made significant progress with the program of transformation work we began three years ago,鈥� Mr Longo said.
Following ob体育鈥檚 most significant organisational redesign in 15 years, better collaboration, enhanced systems and strengthened capabilities have delivered a number of important outcomes.
- Regulatory and enforcement firsts: ob体育 achieved several regulatory and enforcement firsts, including the first win in a greenwashing civil penalty action, the first stop order on a life insurance product, and the first infringement notice issued to a market operator, the ASX.
- Strong compliance and enforcement outcomes: In 2023鈥�24, ob体育 commenced around 170 new investigations, an increase of about 25% on the previous year. The agency also increased its new civil proceedings by 23%.
- Consumer protection: ob体育 took down more than 7,300 investment scams and phishing websites, protecting Australians from losing their savings to scammers. The ob体育 Moneysmart website was used by over 11 million Australians. More than 6 million people made use of the free tools and calculators to help manage their finances.
鈥榃e are seeing the benefits of our transformation work as an agency,鈥� said Mr Longo.
鈥楥hange and transformation also naturally lead to disruption and we acknowledge there are areas we can continue to improve.
鈥楾here is always more to be done to keep delivering for consumers, businesses, and the community we serve.
鈥榃e have seen a number of changes in ob体育鈥檚 executive leadership team over the last year, which means we are well positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities the agency faces.
'We will continue to evolve and respond to new challenges in our operating environment and to the threats and harms that emerge.鈥�