iscoverThe Australian Financial Security Authority has revealed its vulnerability strategy for 2025-28 to highlight how it plans to leverage vulnerability as an enduring strategic priority.
AFSA outlines Vulnerability Strategy for 2025-28
13 November 2025
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9 minute read
A strong credit system for the Australian community has been outlined as the Australian Financial Security Authority’s (AFSA) vision for its recently published Vulnerability Strategy.
The renewed strategy for 2025-28 set out a three-year approach to vulnerability as an “enduring strategic priority” to complement AFSA’s other strategies, policies and projects that sought to address harms in Australia’s regulatory system.
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Tim Beresford, AFSA chief executive, said many people enter the systems regulated by AFSA having experienced significant vulnerability.
“As a regulator, we must provide a strong and balanced approach that allows people in financial distress to get a fresh start, while providing a remedy for those who are owed money,” he said.
“To make sure we live up to being a visible, modern, and contemporary regulator, we must increase our understanding of vulnerability and the many complex factors that contribute to it.”
AFSA said it defined someone experiencing vulnerability as someone whose situation or circumstance could leave them open to harm, exploitation, or other detriment if they didn’t receive the right information, support or understand their options and regulatory obligations.
The strategies and policies the vulnerability strategy would look to support included AFSA’s regulatory strategy, AFSA’s compliance and enforcement policy and AFSA’s regulatory action statement.
These pillars enabled AFSA to support individuals at risk of or experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage, a harm-based approach to regulation to correct non-compliance and prevent potential harms, as well as targeting activities to address the most serious, significant and systemic harms.
Beresford said he acknowledged that a broad range of people could experience vulnerability in the regulatory systems including people with debt, such as small business owners, creditors, practitioners and users of the PPSR.
In addition to this, it was noted as Australia’s economic and social environments changed it was important to consider the future of the credit, personal insolvency and personal property securities system.
It was also important to assess the impacts that changes had on the people interacting with regulatory systems and take a holistic approach to meeting the evolving needs of the economy and community.
“We respond to people’s unique circumstances, to help them navigate the personal insolvency and personal property securities systems and connect them to the services they need. We must ensure our processes do not create harm, increase barriers, or cause unnecessary stress,” Beresford said.
“We must consider the financial counsellors and insolvency practitioners engaging with people experiencing financial hardship as part of their day-to-day job.”
The vulnerability strategy would look to focus on four key objectives, those being:
· Supporting people who had or were engaging with the personal insolvency and PPS systems to understand their options and meet regulatory obligations.
· To embed the vulnerability approach and capability within every day practices.
· The AFSA regulatory community is guided to identify and support people experiencing vulnerability.
· AFSA would use data and insights to understand and respond to vulnerability.
Beresford said these objectives would guide AFSA’s engagement with individuals and small businesses with unmanageable debt, creditors, practitioners and users of the PPSR system.
“They focus on supporting people who interact with AFSA's systems to understand their options, make informed decisions with autonomy, reduce barriers and prevent additional harm to people who may already be experiencing difficult circumstances,” he said.
“This strategy addresses vulnerability through a broad lens, with tangible initiatives and objectives to allow people to engage fairly with our systems. I'd like to thank everybody who contributed to this strategy. Your input, which reflects people's lived experiences, brings substance to our response.”
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