westpac.com.au, as data

On 26 May 2026 Justice McEvoy of the Federal Court of Australia ordered Westpac Banking Corporation** (Westpac) **to pay a total pecuniary penalty of $26 million in connection withWestpac’s failure to receive, and respond to, customers’ online hardship notices within thetimeframes required by law throughout the period of 2 October 2015 to 7 June 2023**(Relevant Period)**. Affected customers include Westpac customers and St George, BankSAand Bank of Melbourne customers, who operated under Westpac’s Australian credit licence.Justice McEvoy imposed the $26 million pecuniary penalty after declaring that, by thatconduct:(a) Westpac had failed to do all things necessary to ensure that the credit activitiesauthorised by the credit licence were engaged in efficiently, honestly andfairly; and(b) Westpac had failed to comply with consumer credit law.Westpac failed to give a written response to 277 customers’ online hardship notices duringthe Relevant Period.Westpac made admissions of contravention in the proceeding. Westpac also cooperated withASIC in the investigation and during the proceeding.Prior and during the proceeding, Westpac conducted a remediation program in which it paid atotal of $1,735,126.81 in remediation to impacted customers and apologised for its conduct.This remediation program was broader than the 277 customers that were subject to theproceeding.Westpac has committed to funding and implementing new technology systems and processesfor receiving and responding to online hardship notices.The above conduct contravened the following consumer credit laws:* Section 72(4) and (5) of the* National Credit Code*, being Schedule 1 to the *National**Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009* (Cth); and* Section 47(1)(a) and (4) of the *National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009* (Cth).For further information about the conduct, see the following:* The court’s judgment on penalty;