The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published its 2025 Stakeholder Survey results, showing widespread support among regulated institutions for its supervisory role.
The survey, conducted biennially, seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of APRA’s engagement with the financial sector, particularly around its supervision and regulatory communication.
This year’s survey saw a 70% response rate from 262 APRA-regulated entities, including insurers, superannuation funds, and banks – up slightly from 67% in 2023.
According to APRA, 97% of respondents agreed that its oversight contributes positively to their industry.
A majority also cited improvements in organisational strength and risk governance as outcomes of APRA’s approach.
In detail, 93% of entities reported that supervision by the regulator enhanced their financial and operational resilience. Another 96% said APRA’s role had improved their internal risk management.
Financial management was also seen to benefit, with 82% acknowledging a positive influence from APRA’s prudential standards.
While the overall response was favourable, the industry remained divided on how well APRA addresses regulatory burden.
Only 24% of respondents felt the regulator gave sufficient weight to the compliance costs associated with its standards. Conversely, 68% agreed that APRA generally maintains a balanced approach to financial stability, efficiency, and competition.
On engagement, 74% of participants said APRA offered adequate consultation opportunities when proposing changes to its standards or guidance.
APRA chair John Lonsdale said feedback from the survey helps inform the agency’s future supervision strategy.
“At a time of great international volatility and economic uncertainty, it’s important the Australians can rely on the financial and operational resilience of our banking, insurance, and superannuation sectors. It’s clear the entities we supervise also see the value in what we do to protect financial stability and to improve risk management in their organisations,” he said.
He noted that the responses are being considered as APRA shapes its priorities for the upcoming financial year.
“We are also aware of the need for us to strike the right balance between financial safety and not unnecessarily burdening industry in a way that lessens competition and productivity – a message that once again our regulated entities want to remind us about,” Lonsdale said.
Alongside the survey results, APRA issued a consultation paper proposing changes to capital requirements for annuity providers.
The proposed model would permit reduced capital holdings for providers that demonstrate effective alignment between assets and liabilities.
APRA said the revised framework would be more risk-sensitive and better incentivise sound risk management without compromising financial safeguards.
The changes, if adopted, are intended to encourage pricing flexibility in the annuities market while keeping consumer protections in place.
The regulator noted that these proposals respond to industry calls for closer alignment with capital frameworks in other jurisdictions.
Insurers and other stakeholders can submit their feedback until July 25.
