The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has proposed to introduce an additional level for Australia's major banks within the prudential framework.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has initiated a consultation process to introduce a third tier in the banking prudential framework. The proposal is to establish a new tier called "Systemically Important Financial Institution" for banks with assets exceeding 300 billion Australian dollars. Currently, this new tier will include the four major banks and Macquarie Bank. The second tier will cover all other "Significant Financial Institutions" with the asset threshold raised from 20 billion to 30 billion Australian dollars. The third tier will be for "Less Significant Financial Institutions" covering all remaining banks. Under the current framework, banks are only categorized as "Significant Financial Institutions" or "Less Significant Financial Institutions". The proposal specifies that if a bank needs to move up to a higher tier, the regulatory authorities will provide a transition period of at least 12 months to meet the corresponding prudential requirements. After a three-month consultation period, APRA expects to finalize the proposal in 2026.