On 2 October 2025, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its October 2025 Financial Stability Review, providing a comprehensive assessment of the health and resilience of Australia’s financial system (Review).
The Review highlights that Australia’s financial system remains well positioned to navigate a period of elevated global uncertainty. The RBA views the largest risks to Australia’s financial stability as coming from abroad:
- High and rising government debt levels in major economies;
- Stretched asset valuations and leverage in global markets; and
- Heightened geopolitical and operational risks.
Chapter 3 of the Review focuses on the resilience of the Australian Financial System. The headlines in this chapter include:
- Banks have maintained prudent lending standards and provisioning, are well capitalised and have large holdings of liquid assets.
- As the superannuation industry becomes a larger component of the Australian financial system, building resilience to shocks is a priority for the sector.
- Enhancing operational resilience and crisis preparedness is a priority across the financial system.
- Non-bank lenders are growing in importance in the Australian economy, but the sector’s systemic impact currently remains limited by its small size.
- General insurance firms remain well capitalised and profitable.
- Regulators remain focused on ensuring that clearing and settlement facilities are well governed and have robust risk management frameworks.