Getting Started with the Consumer Data Right

The Consumer Data Right

The Australian Government introduced the Consumer Data Right (CDR) to give consumers greater control over their data. Consumers have the right to share data, about them and their use of services, with accredited third parties. Their data is held by the businesses providing their services. When a consumer consents for data to be shared, the Data Holder (DH) is required to provide the requested data to the Accredited Data Recipient (ADR). An ADR can use consumer data to provide a variety of services. For example, the ADR can help the consumer compare and switch providers, by recommending loans, or energy plans.

Part of this right requires the creation of common technical standards. Standards allow the ADR and the DH to exchange information safely, with best-practice security to ensure the privacy of consumer data. Standards ensure that Data Holders provide data in a form that ADRs can use. See Data Standards Body, below.

Find out more by visiting the official Consumer Data Right website.

The Treasury

The Commonwealth Treasury determines CDR (Consumer Data Right) Rules. On 1st of March 2021 the Rules function transitioned from the ACCC to the Treasury.

• The Treasury
• CDR Rules
• Commencement of CDR Rules 

ACCC

The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission)  maintains the CDR Register, which registers both Data Holders (DHs) and Accredited Data Recipients (ADRs).

• CDR Register technical issues
• Banking assurance strategy 
• Accreditation guidelines 
• Banking and Finance, The Consumer Data Right

OAIC

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) works to protect the privacy of individuals by ensuring the proper handling of personal information, under powers conferred by the Privacy Act 1988. See OAIC, CDR Information.

The OAIC investigates individual consumer and small business complaints about the handling of Consumer Data Right data by Consumer Data Right participants. Where appropriate, the OAIC refers complaints to external dispute resolution bodies or the ACCC.

Data Standards Body

The resources of the Data Standards Body (DSB) are primarily directed towards assisting the Data Standards Chair in developing the Consumer Data Standards.

The DSB maintains the Consumer Data Standards (CDS). These standards describe the application programming interfaces (APIs) by which consumer data is shared between Data Holders (DHs) and Accredited Data Recipients (ADRs).

The DSB also provides documentation, Consumer Experience guidelines, and facilitates community discussion of the rules and standards.