Accepting cash may become mandatory for Australian businesses

Australia is fast heading towards becoming a cashless society. But there are still segments of society that rely on being able to pay in cash.

With this in mind, the Federal Government is proposing new legislation that would make it compulsory for Aussie businesses to accept cash for groceries, fuel and other essentials.

What’s the impact of this likely to be for your small business? Let’s take a look.

Giving consumers the option to pay with cash

Research from 2022 by the Reserve Bank of Australia shows that 76% of Australians pay with cards, while 13% pay using cash. However, there are demographic groups, generally the elderly and those in low income brackets, that still prefer to pay cash.

Reasons for this can range from security worries and a mistrust of online banking, to the relative ease of using cash as a payment method.

To protect the rights of consumers who prefer cash over cards and/or digital payments, the Federal Government hopes to introduce legislation over the next two years.

At present, under existing law, businesses do NOT have to accept cash payments. Proposed legislation would make it make it mandatory for businesses to accept cash as payment for groceries, fuel and other essentials. Cheques are to be phased out altogether as a payment option by September 2029. When was the last time that you wrote a cheque?

A consultation process will take place in 2024/25 and legislation will be introduced in 2026. There may be an exemption for small businesses, with details on this to be advised.

The retailers point of view

Some retailers are cash only. They do not have cash registers or cash floats and they do not have to count cash, record the total and take the cash less the float to the bank every day. In these respects they are more efficient than other businesses. Soon, they might be obliged to join the mainstream, and probably for a relatively short space of time, because a cashless society seems to be inevitable. In 1970, predictions of a cashless society were already being made.