This bill did not become law and is no longer proceeding.
Health, care & disability
Face-to-face businesses would have to offer and accept cash for in-person sales at shops, premises or vehicles when the transaction does not exceed $10,000.
Falling cash use raised concerns that more businesses would stop accepting cash, leaving people including seniors who rely on it unable to pay. The bill requires face-to-face businesses to accept cash for transactions up to $10,000, with limited exceptions and penalties for refusing it.
As cash made up a shrinking share of in-person payments, Andrew Gee argued that more businesses would stop taking it and that people who still rely on cash, including seniors, could be shut out of everyday purchases. His bill, introduced on 3 June 2024, proposed forcing face-to-face businesses to accept cash for transactions up to $10,000 with limited exceptions and civil penalties, but it did not pass and was removed from the Notice PaperThe daily parliamentary list of business, so being removed from it means the bill was no longer moving forward. on 26 November 2024.
No significant public case against the Keeping Cash Transactions in Australia Bill 2024The proposed law that would require certain businesses to accept cash for eligible in-person sales. is recorded so far, and the available debate material focused on arguments for protecting cash access rather than warning of harms. in publicly available sources reviewed, no party represented in the debate opposed the bill and no concrete drafting, cost or implementation criticism was set out in detail.
Andrew Gee MP introduced this bill. Speeches supporting it came from Katter's Australian Party, some crossbench members.
Did it become law?
No
The bill did not complete passage through Parliament.
Final passage
No final passage
The bill has not completed passage and is no longer proceeding.
Time before failure
176 days
From introduction to the final recorded step before the bill stopped proceeding
Meaning
Face-to-face businesses would have to offer and accept cash for in-person sales at shops, premises or vehicles when the transaction does not exceed $10,000.
Businesses could still refuse cash when the payment is above $10,000 or a higher amount later set by rules, or when cash would create security, legal, health or change-making problems.
A business or individual that wrongly refused cash under this law could face civil penalties of up to $5,000 for a person or $25,000 for a company.
The law would start 3 months after Royal AssentThe formal step that makes a bill into an Act of Parliament, which then allows the law to start later., giving businesses a short lead-in before the cash acceptance rules began.
The Bill mandates that businesses providing goods and services in face-to-face settings, within a premises, structure or vehicle at which a person carries on a business, must offer to accept, and must accept, payment in cash if the transaction does not exceed $10,000.Keeping Cash Transactions in Australia explanatory memorandum
These circumstances are:(a) if the payment under the transaction exceeds the higher of $10,000 and any other amount prescribed by the rules; or(b) if offering to accept payment in cash would pose a reasonable security risk; or(c) if offering to accept payment in cash would be contrary to another law of the Commonwealth or a law of a State or Territory; orKeeping Cash Transactions in Australia explanatory memorandum
The Bill provides for maximum civil penalties of $5,000 for a person and $25,000 for a body corporate if its requirements are contravened.Keeping Cash Transactions in Australia explanatory memorandum
This clause provides for the commencement of the Bill to be the day after the end of the period of 3 months beginning on the day this Act receives Royal Assent.Keeping Cash Transactions in Australia explanatory memorandum
Context
As cash made up a shrinking share of in-person payments, Andrew Gee argued that more businesses would stop taking it and that people who still rely on cash, including seniors, could be shut out of everyday purchases. His bill, introduced on 3 June 2024, proposed forcing face-to-face businesses to accept cash for transactions up to $10,000 with limited exceptions and civil penalties, but it did not pass and was removed from the Notice PaperThe daily parliamentary list of business, so being removed from it means the bill was no longer moving forward. on 26 November 2024.
Supporters frame cash as a safeguard when electronic payments fail
During the bill's introduction, Bob Katter backed it by arguing that power outages and card failures can leave regional communities unable to buy essentials if cash is not accepted.
Hansard ↗Keeping Cash Transactions in Australia Bill 2024The proposed law that would require certain businesses to accept cash for eligible in-person sales. is introduced
The bill was presented to the House to require face-to-face businesses to offer and accept cash for eligible transactions, with a proposed $10,000 cap and civil penalties for wrongful refusal.
Parliamentary timeline ↗MP says falling cash use risks shutting people out of everyday payments
In his second reading speechThe main speech where the bill's sponsor explains why the bill should be passed., Andrew Gee said declining cash use was creating fears that businesses would stop accepting it, leaving people including seniors unable to pay in cash.
Hansard ↗Bill is removed from the Notice PaperThe daily parliamentary list of business, so being removed from it means the bill was no longer moving forward.
The proposal fell off the parliamentary program without becoming law, so the planned national cash-acceptance requirement did not take effect.
Parliamentary timeline ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
The scrutiny record says the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills considered the bill in Scrutiny Digest 7 of 2024.
Considered
Collected source bundleThe bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Key criticism
No significant public case against the Keeping Cash Transactions in Australia Bill 2024The proposed law that would require certain businesses to accept cash for eligible in-person sales. is recorded so far, and the available debate material focused on arguments for protecting cash access rather than warning of harms. in publicly available sources reviewed, no party represented in the debate opposed the bill and no concrete drafting, cost or implementation criticism was set out in detail.
No significant public case against the bill is recorded so far.
Votes
No recorded votes were found before this bill stopped proceeding.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Andrew Gee supports the bill and urges the House to pass it, arguing it will protect cash as a payment option and preserve choice for seniors, rural Australians, and others who rely on cash for budgeting, privacy, and resilience during outages.
Read in Hansard ↗Katter supports the bill and says cash is essential to personal freedom and everyday life, especially in remote communities and during power outages.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
2 speakers · 2 support
“I urge all members of this House to support this game-changing bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“In actual fact, the common law has recognised, as have the written laws of Australia, that a banknote is legal tender. You are obliged to take that banknote, as you yourself, Mr Speaker, and I advised the refectory in this place. To spell it out boldly and bluntly without any equivocation: it's absolutely necessary. I commend the member for Calare for bringing this bill forward. It is definitely something for which the time has arrived. It is an imperative assertion of freedom and an underlying principle of our freedom—that is, the right to purchase something. If that right is taken off us and given to the banks then the freedoms in this country have ceased to exist and Nineteen Eighty-Four has arrived upon us.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the chamber and read a first time, which starts its parliamentary journey.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister or sponsoring member moved the second reading, opening the main debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
House · Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42)
Removed from the Notice PaperThe daily parliamentary list of business, so being removed from it means the bill was no longer moving forward. in accordance with (SO 42)
The bill reached this recorded parliamentary step.
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
Considered
The scrutiny record says the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills considered the bill in Scrutiny Digest 7 of 2024.
Considered by scrutiny committee (26/Jun/2024): Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills; Scrutiny Digest 7 of 2024
Collected source bundle