APRA publishes 2026-27 Corporate Plan

APRA published its 2026-27 Corporate Plan on 20 August 2026, setting out its strategic priorities for the next four years and its policy and supervision agenda for the following 12 to 18 months. The Plan is built around three strategic priorities: maintaining financial system safety and stability so the system can absorb shocks, getting the balance right so APRA achieves its safety objectives without undue cost to industry, and improving APRA's own organisational effectiveness.

APRA Chair John Lonsdale said the Plan responds to a highly uncertain and volatile risk environment, citing geopolitical tensions affecting inflation, trade relationships and cost of living, alongside technological developments, including frontier artificial intelligence, that create new threats and amplify existing ones while also challenging traditional business models. The Plan states that risk management practices at banks, insurers and superannuation trustees need to keep pace with this environment, and builds on APRA's earlier getting the balance right initiatives aimed at freeing up capital and streamlining prudential requirements.

The Corporate Plan is a strategic and supervisory statement rather than a binding instrument, and does not itself impose new legal obligations. Regulated entities, including banks, general and life insurers and superannuation trustees, typically use APRA's Corporate Plan to understand where supervisory attention and thematic reviews are likely to focus over the coming year, and to calibrate their own risk and compliance planning accordingly.