Christians Against Poverty is among some 125 organisations and almost 100 prominent Australians which have signed an open letter warning Australian senators to block plans to remove so-called “responsible lending laws”.
The Federal Government has proposed removing the laws which were introduced in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis to ensure people would not end up in significant hardship as a result of taking out a loan and places the onus on banks to ensure this is the case.
The open letter, which was organised by the consumer advocacy group CHOICE and is addressed to ‘Australian Parliamentarians’, says Australians will be “worse off” if these protections are removed and that it will result in what they say is a “debt disaster”.
The letter, which is being released as part of the ‘Stop the Debt Disaster’ campaign, also says the change “would contradict the very first recommendation of the banking royal commission”.
“Commissioner Kenneth Hayne called for safe lending laws to be enforced, not dismantled,” the letter says.
At the time of writing more than 14,000 people have signed the letter.
Rosie Kendall, CEO of Christians Against Poverty Australia, said that signing the letter “is an essential action we can all take to help protect people from exploitative lending by banks and other lenders”.
We are experiencing our first recession in nearly 30 years, and the church has a unique opportunity and responsibility to serve and love the poor now more than ever…” she said. “At CAP, we believe we have a ‘duty of care’ to protect the vulnerable from the destructive force of debt, focussing on Jesus’ mandate to truly care for the poor from policy to personal finance, we are hopeful that lives will be transformed and people will be free from debt.”
