Laura
Here it is from AISC the regulator.
I hope the politicians you spoke to have nothing to do with any financial advice to the public.
Anyone could look this up on line within a couple of minutes so Im guessing you have not even tried.
Government guarantee on deposits
The Australian Government has guaranteed deposits up to $250,000 in Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) such as your bank,
building society or
credit union. This means that this money is guaranteed if anything happens to the ADI.
The cap applies per person and per ADI. So if you have $250,000 with one ADI and $250,000 with another, then both of your deposits are guaranteed. If you have more than $250,000 with one ADI then only up to $250,000 is guaranteed.
Some ADIs operate multiple brands or may offer deposit accounts under more than one brand name. However, they are still part of the same ADI. The guarantee covers deposits per ADI, not per brand name. For example, if you have multiple deposit accounts with brands that are owned by the same ADI, the guarantee will only apply to $250,000 of these funds in total. If this concerns you, make sure you know who the ADI is that you bank with.
In the case of joint accounts, each account holder is entitled to an individual guarantee up to $250,000.
The guarantee applies to all ADIs incorporated in Australia, including Australian-owned banks, foreign subsidiary banks, building societies and credit unions. To check which banks are covered by the guarantee see the
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's list of ADIs.
https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/banking
AND THIS FROM APRA
Notice the date at the bottom
List of banks, building societies and credit unions covered under the FCS
The banks, building societies, credit unions and other authorised deposit-taking institutions listed below are all covered under the Financial Claims Scheme (FCS).
Some licenced banking institutions operate other banking businesses with different trading names, and these are listed below as dot points under the name of the licenced institution. The FCS protection of $250,000 per account holder applies to the sum of all deposits held under each licenced institution, which includes any deposits held with the other banking trading names that are listed as dot points.
This information on this page has been provided by the banks, building societies and credit unions listed. Please read the disclaimer for this website.
This is not intended to be your sole source of information when determining whether your accounts are covered under the FCS. Account holders are strongly advised to contact their particular banking institution for information on whether their specific accounts are protected under the FCS.
This list was last updated on 2 January 2018.
https://www.fcs.gov.au/which-adis-are-covered
