The Australian Government’s misleading claims that abolishing credit card surcharges will reduce consumer costs have raised concerns among Australia’s auctioneers and valuers. With strong member backing, the Auctioneers and Valuers Association of Australia (AVAA) has called on the Federal Treasurer to adopt more accurate messaging that reflects the commercial reality that payment processing costs remain.
The Treasurer and Prime Minister have made public comments suggesting that abolishing credit and debit card surcharges will reduce the prices consumers pay. The nation’s leading business organisations and AVAA have challenged this messaging, arguing that it overlooks the continuing payment-processing costs businesses must recover through their pricing arrangements.
In formal written advice to the Federal Treasurer, AVAA challenged the Government’s messaging surrounding the reforms, which commenced on 1 October 2026, particularly suggestions that abolishing card surcharges will necessarily reduce consumer prices. The Association’s representations reflect the practical concerns of businesses required to implement the changes while continuing to manage the costs of accepting electronic payments.
AVAA supports the policy objective of improving price transparency and ensuring consumers understand the full cost of a transaction. Its concern centres on how the Government has communicated the financial benefits of the reforms. The Australian Government’s messaging that presents the removal of surcharges as a consumer cost-saving measure risks creating unrealistic expectations and places businesses in a difficult position when explaining legitimate pricing adjustments to customers.
For auction houses and valuation practices, merchant service fees and other payment-processing expenses remain part of their operating costs. Depending on transaction volumes, payment methods and merchant arrangements, these expenses can represent a material component of business expenditure. Where businesses previously recovered these costs through separately identified surcharges, they must now consider how to incorporate them into their broader pricing structures.
The reforms have also imposed one-off compliance costs. Businesses have needed to review fee schedules, modify payment gateways, adjust accounting systems, update websites and auction registration platforms, and revise customer communications. For smaller operators, these changes can involve considerable administrative time and expenditure on external accounting, IT and professional services.
AVAA has advised the Federal Treasurer that abolishing a surcharge does not abolish the underlying cost. It simply changes where that cost appears. As part of this advice, AVAA has called on the Government to acknowledge these continuing expenses and the regulatory compliance costs associated with implementation, while presenting the reforms primarily as an improvement in price transparency rather than a guarantee of lower consumer prices.
AVAA has also raised the matter with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Small Business. This advocacy reflects AVAA’s approach to representing members on regulatory matters affecting their businesses, including issues extending beyond auctioneering and valuation-specific legislation.
Through its engagement with members, AVAA identifies emerging regulatory concerns, assesses their operational and financial consequences, and brings the industry’s experience into discussions with government. The card surcharge reforms provide an example of that work, with AVAA supporting the policy’s consumer transparency objectives while seeking greater recognition of the commercial realities facing businesses.
The member-driven advocacy on this matter is a great example of how AVAA Certified Valuers (CVAu) and AVAA Certified Auctioneers (CAAu) are backed by a strong and experienced voice in Canberra.
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Interested In Finding Out More?
If you’d like more information on this matter, send an email to government.affairs@avaa.com.au or telephone 1300 928 165. You can also stay up to date by following AVAA on LinkedIn, X/Twitter and Facebook.
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