The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO QUEENSLAND, MORNINGS WITH SUSAN GRAHAM-RYAN
WEDNESDAY, 30 SEPTEMBER 2026
SUBJECTS: Albanese Government ending card surcharges to help with the cost of living; banning unfair trading practices, artificial intelligence
SUSAN GRAHAM-RYAN: Well, starting tomorrow, businesses will no longer be able to charge a surcharge when customers pay by card. The Reserve Bank says the current system has become too complicated and difficult for customers to avoid, while separate changes will also reduce some of the fees businesses pay to accept cards. But with small businesses already under pressure, some are warning those costs could simply end up added to their prices instead. Andrew Leigh is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and spoke with the ABC's Emma Jones.
ANDREW LEIGH: In the old days, only a few people were using credit cards or debit cards. These days, they're the normal way of paying for things, and yet the surcharges are still being applied to consumers. What this does is it allows people to ensure that the price you see is the price you pay. That facilitates more comparison shopping across sites and ensures that people don't get stung at the checkout with an additional fee.
EMMA JONES: The government says Australians will no longer pay around $1.6 billion a year in card surcharges. But if some businesses are simply building those costs into their prices, should customers actually expect to pay less?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well this is about transparency. People should be able to trust that the price you see is the price you pay. For retailers, any form of payment has a cost. Cash has a cost. Credit card processing has a cost. So, it'll be up to businesses as to how they set their prices. What this reform ensures is that people are able to compare fairly across businesses and they don't have sneaky charges added at the last minute.
EMMA JONES: As you said, businesses will still have to accept card payments and they will still have to be paying these fees. So, for a small cafe or retailer that finds these changes leave them worse off, what support is the government actually putting in place to help them adjust?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, the Reserve Bank as part of these reforms is capping the fees that can be charged to retailers. That ensures that the pressure on small businesses is mitigated.
EMMA JONES: The government says lower interchange fees should save businesses around $910 million a year. What gives you the confidence those savings will actually make it all the way through to individual small businesses?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, these are figures that have been developed independently from government. We're confident that providing more transparency is good. One of the things that we've done in government is to ensure that we have more transparency of prices in the supermarket. This is about transparency of prices right across the economy.
EMMA JONES: And if a small business checks its merchant fees after October 1 and finds they haven't meaningfully fallen, what can they actually do about it? At what point does the government step in there?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, the Reserve Bank is capping the amount that can be charged by the credit card providers to small businesses. It'll be up to small businesses to engage with their credit card providers.
EMMA JONES: I'm speaking with Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh ahead of changes to card surcharges taking effect from October 1. Assistant Minister, there are clearly trade-offs here. Businesses may have to absorb some costs, some may put their prices up and consumers could see costs move elsewhere. Given all of that, why are you convinced this is still worth doing?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, it's about fairness and transparency. I think what people want is to know that when you see a sticker price on a menu or on a shelf, that ends up being the price you pay. But what's happening now with credit card surcharges proliferating across the economy is we don't have that degree of transparency. The government's reforms to drip pricing have ensured that you won't be able to put in place additional sneaky fees at the last minute. Again, more transparency gets better comparison and ensures that a small business that isn't charging a surcharge right now isn't undercut by another company, that is.
EMMA JONES: This isn't the only area where the government is trying to change the way consumers are treated. You've also moved on hidden fees, subscription traps and other unfair trading practices. What's next on your consumer protection agenda and how does this change fit into the larger goal that you're clearly working on?
ANDREW LEIGH: It's all about transparency and again, people getting a better deal at the checkout. One of the things we're now looking at is whether there are changes in AI and the way in which AI shoppers are operating, which might adversely hurt consumers. So, getting a better oversight of AI is going to be important. A great technology for productivity potentially, but also risky downsides for consumers. And we want to make sure consumers are protected. We need to ensure that we have good competition across the economy. And I worry a situation in which sneaky firms can get away with adding additional costs and then undercut a decent competitor down the road. We want Australian firms to be competing based on providing better products and better services – not on who can add the sneakiest fee.
SUSAN GRAHAM-RYAN: That is the Assistant Minister for Productivity Competition, Charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh speaking with the ABC's Emma Jones. They were chatting there about the changes to card surcharges taking effect from tomorrow.
ENDS