NO.061

REAPPOINTMENTS TO THE PAYMENTS SYSTEM BOARD

I am pleased to announce the reappointment of Mr John Thom, Ms Susan McCarthy

and Mr Joseph Gersh as part-time members of the Payments System Board (PSB).

The terms of the appointments will be as follows:

• Mr John Thom  until 14 July 2006
• Ms Susan McCarthy  until 14 July 2007
• Mr Joseph Gersh  until 14 July 2008

The PSB was established on 1 July 1998 as a Board of the Reserve Bank of Australia

(RBA). The mandate of the PSB is to promote safety, efficiency and competition

in the payments system in Australia. Over this period, the Board has embarked

on a major reform of retail payments, particularly in relation to credit cards.

I am grateful for the efforts of the Board and I thank Mr Thom, Ms McCarthy

and Mr Gersh for accepting the reappointment.

The Reserve Bank Act 1959 provides for up to eight members of the PSB including

the RBA Governor, one other RBA representative, one representative from the

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and up to five independent members.

The current members of the PSB are:

• Mr Ian Macfarlane, Chairman
• Dr John Veale, Deputy Chairman
• Dr John Laker, APRA representative
• Mr John Thom
• Ms Susan McCarthy
• Mr Joseph Gersh
• Mr John Poynton

CANBERRA

24 July 2003

Contact: David Alexander 02 6277 7340