The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has recently announced that APRA Connect will go live on 30 September 2021.
APRA initially announced in 2017 its intention to replace its current data collection software D2A. After extensive industry consultation and a formal tender process in 2018, Vizor and Dimension Data were announced as the platform and implementation providers respectively, in April 2019. The go-live date was postponed a number of times due to implementation complexities and most recently due to COVID-19.
APRA has now announced a staged transition to the new web-based data portal for new data collections, with existing reporting to continue via D2A in the medium term. Some entity related information such as contact details, responsible persons, BEAR and related parties will need to be maintain in APRA Connect by all entities.
The first regulatory data collections to be introduced in APRA Connect at the September 2021 go-live will be the Private Health Insurance (PHI) Reform (HRS 605.0) and Superannuation Data Transformation collections. Also Form 701 for intermediated insurance business will need to be submitted in APRA Connect.
APRA has not yet announced when it intends to migrate existing data collections. In its most recent announcement (December 2020), the regulator stated that "Direct to APRA (D2A) will continue to be used for most existing collections. This means that dual reporting systems will be in place for the medium term and any resubmissions for D2A-submitted returns must be made through D2A."
All entities will need to be prepared to submit data via both D2A and APRA Connect for the foreseeable future.
A testing environment will be available for industry to support the transition.
The focus on new data collections
APRA is focussing the roll out of APRA Connect on new data collections. APRA is starting to introduce the collection of granular data models, as opposed to the collection of aggregated reporting forms. The recent experience during COVID-19 has been that the data needs of regulators are not static, and that capturing data in aggregated reports does not provide APRA and the other agencies (most notably RBA, The Treasury, ABS) with the flexibility required to analyse and monitor risks at the appropriate level. APRA Connect provides APRA with a platform that facilitates the development of these future collections.
How we can help
RegConnect streamlines the validation and submission of your regulatory data to APRA in D2A and in APRA Connect. RegConnect automatically synchronises with all published reporting forms in both D2A and APRA Connect. RegConnect supports all submission and validation rules across ADIs, RFCs, insurers and superannuation.
Join one of our scheduled demo's or contact us to set up an individual session with one of our product specialists.
Previous articles
What is APRA Connect and how is it different from D2A? In this article we cover the basics.
Looking to build out your business case for enhanced automation? This article will help you on your way.
In our FAQ section we cover some of the most frequently asked questions about RegConnect and about APRA Connect.
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