On 14 July 2025, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) issued a consultation on minor updates to the Private Health Insurance (Health Benefits Fund Enforcement) Rules 2015 (the Rules).
Background
The Rules set requirements on enforcement matters. They provide for procedural matters relating to voluntary deeds of arrangement, external manager recommendations that can be made in reports to APRA, and the actions that APRA may take in response. The Rules also apply certain provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 to health benefit funds that are under external management, subject to modifications set out in the Rules. The Rules are due to cease (sunset) on 30 September 2025. APRA is not proposing changes to the policy settings underpinning the Rules. A draft version of Private Health Insurance (Health Benefits Fund Enforcement) Rules 2025 is available on APRA’s website.
Changes
As mentioned above, APRA is proposing minor updates to the Rules.
These include updates to:
- The titles of legislation referenced within the Rules, minor corrections and removal of the transition arrangements provision.
- Address amendments to the Corporations Act made after the Rules were made.
Next steps
The deadline for comments on the consultation is 8 August 2025.
APRA is aiming to release a final version of the updated Rules in September 2025.