CHOICE has led a joint submission to the Treasury consultation on a proposal to mandate the acceptance of cash by businesses selling essentials. We welcome the proposal as cash has a vital role to play in Australia for the foreseeable future, and this will help ensure people can use it in important stores.
However, we raise concerns that the proposal would not apply to small businesses. There are parts of regional and remote Australia where cash is vital to the community. We oppose a complete small business exemption because it would leave these communities high and dry.
We also urge the government to take steps to secure access to cash for consumers. A mandate to accept cash is useless if cash is not reasonably accessible. At present, access to cash is a bigger issue than businesses accepting cash.
