2020 - Consumer Action Law Centre

Households in embedded networks need fair electricity prices

Households in embedded networks are often in effective monopoly situations with little regulatory oversight. For this reason, they need the same or better protections than their peers with conventiona...

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This isn’t news, but thousands of people getting caught in debt is

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) has made a submission on reforms to make payday loans and rent-to-buy schemes safer, fairer and more affordable. This is the fourth time the Centre has mad...

Time’s up: Government must step up and pass payday lending and rent-to-buy reforms

Consumer Action's submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee calls on Parliament to pass the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Leas...

Establishing a Compensation Scheme of Last Resort

Consumer groups have made a joint submission to the Treasury’s Discussion Paper, Implementing Royal Commission Recommendation 7.1 – Establishing a Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (December 2019). T...

Maintain households’ rights when accessing essential energy services

As new energy products and services create more options for consumers to access energy offers with non-conventional pricing or features, the complexity of making decisions increases and poses more ris...

New report reveals how irresponsible lenders are causing harm in Victorian Aboriginal communities

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) are launching a new report on how irresponsible lenders are causing harm in Victorian Aboriginal communit...

Consumer Issues in Victorian Aboriginal Communities: Integrated Practice Project Report 2020

‘Consumer issues in Victorian Aboriginal communities’ reports findings from Consumer Action Law Centre’s (Consumer Action) and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service’s (VALS) Integrated Practice proje...

Implement strong protections to ensure households benefit from new energy technology

Consumer Action’s legal and financial counselling services have regularly assisted consumers experiencing harm as solar technology grows in popularity in Victoria. Our Power Transformed, Knock It Off!...

Delivering on the promise to ban vendor terms and rent-to-buy agreements from Victoria’s housing market

Over the years, our team has assisted a number of people who have been adversely affected by failed vendor finance and rent-to-buy deals, which are promoted as an opportunity to achieve home ownership...

Consumer advocates welcome Act implementing three key Banking Royal Commission recommendations

Today the Government passed the first omnibus bill in the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, which consumer advocates say will help address long-standing problems with unfair insurance contracts, f...

Critical moment to fix and prevent systemic mis-selling of junk insurance and warranties through caryards

Since 2016, Consumer Action’s free tool, DemandaRefund.com has helped people to generate over 9,000 demands totalling an estimated $17 million in refunds for junk consumer credit insurance (CCI), guar...

RBA Review of Retail Payments Regulation

The payments landscape has changed rapidly since the RBA’s last review of retail payment systems five years ago. The emergence of new payment schemes, such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) has skewed the...

One year on and greater focus needed to complete Hayne’s vision

Tomorrow marks one year since Commissioner Kenneth Hayne submitted the Banking Royal Commission Final Report. The Government has taken big steps towards cleaning up the finance sector, but consumer ad...

Energy contracts can only be fair if all Victorian energy users have the same protections

Despite the introduction of the Victorian Default Offer for electricity, the state’s most vulnerable energy consumers still face challenges in the market. Energy prices changing unexpectedly, excessiv...

Remove barriers to energy efficiency for rental properties

Consumer Action’s National Debt Helpline service provided financial counselling to over 11,000 people in the 2018/19 financial year. Often issues with low quality rental properties or disputes with re...

Strengthening consumers’ voice in policy and regulation affecting superannuation

Choosing a superannuation fund is one of the most important financial decisions a person will make. However, the superannuation system is failing countless Australians. People across Australia cont...

Government must regulate exploitative insurance claims managers in wake of bushfires

As significant numbers of insurance claims loom in the wake of Australia’s bushfire crisis, consumer groups today called on the Federal Government to urgently regulate insurance claims management serv...

Making the insurance claims process fair

From a consumer perspective, claims handling is the most critical part of the insurance process, and one of the most problematic. Too often, the claims process is arduous, lengthy and unfair. In ou...

What type of financial relief is available for people directly affected by the Victorian bushfires?

Here is a list of relief packages available to help relieve the financial stress associated with paying: Credit card bills Loan repayments Energy bills Water bills Landline and mobile...

What type of financial support is available for people who have lost homes or income due to the Victorian bushfires?

Here is a list of financial payments available to support people who have lost their homes or their income as a direct result of the 2019-2020 bushfires in Victoria. This is not an exhaustive list...

Bushfire 2019-20 Support

As has been widely reported, we have never seen a bushfire crisis of this magnitude in Australia. Here is a list of ways you can give and receive support during this time. Victorian Legal A...

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