General news

Now, the Federal Government has a plan to mandate businesses to accept cash when selling essential items. It would apply to items such as food and petrol, with some exceptions for small businesses. 

On behalf of members, the FSU made a submission in favour of this plan.

According to the government’s own consultation paper, about 1.5 million Australians use cash to make more than 80 per cent of their in‑person payments. Importantly, cash also provides an easily accessible back‑up to digital payments in times of natural disaster or digital outage. 

The FSU argued that cash payments are an essential option for people who are not equipped to detect scams. Financial fraud is becoming more common and without a cash mandate, it puts these people and their savings at risk of exploitation. 

Furthermore, people who rely on cash may also do so to keep more money in their pockets, thanks to the 1.65 per cent surcharge we all pay whenever we use the “tap and go” payment method. 

These surcharges, while individually may seem small, add up to hundreds of dollars in fees every year – an expense that should be absorbed by the banking sector’s nearly $30 billion annual profits.  

Keep branches and ATMs open 

As argued in our submission, there is another vital measure that must be considered to enable people to continue accessing cash: keeping a minimum number of bank branches open in our local communities.  

Being able to access and pay with cash is critical, but equally important is people having access to essential banking services, including fee free ATMs.  

Given the disturbing announcements made recently by CBA and Bendigo Bank about charging a fee every time people withdraw their own money, having fee free ATMs is more important now than ever. 

You can read our full submission here. The Federal Government’s consultation paper can also be accessed here. 

The cash mandate is expected to apply from 1 January 2026.