On 27 October 2022, ASIC issued a media release on breach reporting for the nine month period from 1 October 2021 to 30 June 2022, covering the time of the new regime.  It was noted that only 6% of licensees had submitted a breach report, which was less than was expected.

This media release was accompanied by ASIC Report 740 Insights from the reportable situations regime: October 2021 to June 2022, which set out the following information:

• 8,829 breach reports have been submitted in this nine month period.
• 74% of breaches have come from just 23 licensees.
• 60% of breaches noted that the root cause was “staff negligence or error”.
• 9% of AFSLs had reported breaches, as opposed to just 3% for credit licensees.
• Credit was the area with the most reports at 3,376. General Insurance generated the second largest number of breaches, followed by deposit taking.
• Financial advice was the fourth largest area with 878 breaches.

It is important for licensees to understand their breach reporting obligations.  The failure to report a breach can have consequences and compound matters that are later reported to, or discovered by ASIC.  Licensees and advisers are reminded to refer to ASIC Regulatory Guide 78 on Breach Reporting to understand your reporting obligations.