July 2012
Home help has strings attached The Age, 25 July 2012, John Kavanagh Unpaid power bills going up The Age, 17 July 2012, Rachel Wells Avoid the stress zone on your home loan Sydney Morning Hera...
Submission: Submission to the Victorian Government’s consultation on the domestic building consumer protection framework
Broadly, this submission: argues that the nature of domestic building transactions mean that specialised and strengthened consumer protections are required; recommends that the entire consumer prot...
Media release: Credit Enhancements Bill a ‘win’ for payday lenders
Consumer advocates and financial counsellors have lamented the lost opportunity to effectively protect vulnerable Australians from exploitative payday and short term loans. While pleased that the Gov...
Media release: Credit limit regulations so soft they’re almost redundant
The Consumer Action Law Centre has lamented that federal regulations designed to limit the harm caused by unsolicited credit limit increase offers have been watered down to the point where they are al...
Media release: ‘Payment protection plan’ sold by The Cash Store offers borrower little protection
Consumer Action Law Centre and the Consumer Credit Legal Centre NSW have questioned whether it was appropriate for payday loan broker The Cash Store to sell a ‘payment protection plan’—a loan insuranc...
June 2012
Thrifty moves for plastic users The Age, 27 June2012, Clancy Yeates Warning as banks try hard-sell approach to credit card customers Herald Sun, 19 June 2012, Karina Barrymore Millions of Aust...
Submission: Response to Commonwealth Government discussion paper on reducing reliance on payday lending
This submission: Expresses significant concerns with the way the payday lending problem is framed in the discussion paper. In particular, we do not agree that high-cost short-term lending is a neces...
What if I have been sued for a debt?
Key message Act quickly to get advice if you have been sued for a debt in the Magistrate’s Court of Victoria. The Magistrates Court Process If the amount owed is $100,000 or less, a creditor...
Submission: Inquiry into the post-GFC banking sector
This submission makes the following brief points: that the development of an independent measure of the cost of bank funding (including offshore wholesale funding, and deposits), regularly reported...
Submission: Inquiry into the post-GFC banking sector
Rather than responding to each point of the Committee's terms of reference, this submission makes the following brief points: that the development of an independent measure of the cost of bank fundi...
Credit limit offers in the spotlight
We've all seen letters or messages from banks trying to entice us to increase our credit card limits. They come in a range or forms from Congratulations, you’ve been pre-approved, to Increase your cre...
Media release: ATM Taskforce delivers for remote communities, but more needs to be done
The Federal Government’s ATM Taskforce has delivered a mixed bag for consumers in its reports on transparency and competition according to the Consumer Action Law Centre. The Centre lauded moves to ab...
Media release: Linked credit case could cast doubt on more NAB student loans
The Consumer Action Law Centre has lodged a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) against the National Australia Bank (NAB) and is seeking to have its client’s NAB student loan terminat...
Submission: Proposed amendments to the Consumer Credit and Corporations Legislation Amendment (Enhancements) Bill 2011
In brief, this submission recommends: With regards to hardship variations that Government consider providing detailed guidance to credit providers, perhaps through ASIC, to assist them to better a...
Joint submission: Consumer protections for users of payday loans
The following is a joint submission in response to Treasury's April 2012 discussion paper on proposed reforms to Small Amount Credit Contracts. This submission has been prepared by Consumer Action La...
Policy report: Profiling for profit – a report on target marketing and profiling practices in the credit industry
The marketing of products and services to consumers who are likely to be interested in the offer, or to be profitable for the business, is not new. However, with the development of more sophisticated...
Media release: Revised payday lending Bill puts profits before people
The Consumer Action Law Centre has condemned the Federal Government’s proposed amendments to its Credit Enhancements Bill, calling them a cave in to industry lobbying and lamenting a lost opportunity...
Media release: Consumer group says Cash Converters’ process need formal investigation
The Consumer Action Law Centre has asked the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to undertake a formal investigation into the internal dispute resolution processes of Cash Converter...
Media release: Ombudsman asked to consider lending practices of payday loan provider
Consumer Action is lodging another dispute against a high profile payday loan provider. The most recent dispute, being lodged on behalf of Ms Jane Bowyer with the Credit Ombudsman Service, alleges The...
Community lawyers claim The Cash Store’s holiday marketing is irresponsible
A new advertisement from one of Australia’s leading payday loan brokers, The Cash Store, has raised the ire of two community legal centres, who fear the advert may result in many Victorian’s entering...
Media release: Community lawyers claim The Cash Store’s holiday marketing is irresponsible
A new advertisement from one of Australia’s leading payday loan brokers, The Cash Store, has raised the ire of two community legal centres, who fear the advert may result in many Victorian’s entering...
Media release: Committee’s report shows responsible lending laws aren’t enough
The Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the finding from a parliamentary committee of inquiry that Australia’s responsible lending laws don’t sufficiently protect consumers from harmful payday loa...
Media release: Time for the Federal Opposition to show its hand on payday lending reforms
A coalition of consumer groups has called on the Federal Opposition to back the Government’s proposed national credit reforms, which are designed to protect payday loan borrowers from effective intere...
Media release: Consumer Action welcomes ASIC investigation into broker responsible lending conduct
Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the release of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission's (ASIC) investigation into mortgage brokers' responsible lending conduct, focusing on ‘low d...
Media release: Government warned that new credit card regulation may require running repairs
The Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the Federal Government’s ban on credit providers making unsolicited credit card limit increase offers to customers, but believes that ambiguity in the regul...
Media release: Payday lending practices challenged in court
The lending practices of Australian’s biggest payday lender, Cash Converters, are being challenged in proceedings issued in the Victorian Magistrates Court. A disability support pensioner is alleging...
Media release: New website delivers the cold hard and sad facts about payday lending
A coalition of consumer and financial counselling organisations has launched a new website to ensure the hard truths are heard in the debate about the future of short term high cost loans - www.debttr...
Media release: Government reforms offer a branch to consumers stuck in high cost short term lending quicksand
The Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the Federal Government’s proposed cap on the amounts lenders of high cost short term loans (often referred to as 'payday loans') can recover from consumers,...
Media release: 400 per cent interest rates undermine ‘responsible lending laws’
Exorbitant effective interest rates on short term loans, upwards of 400 per cent, continue to put the pinch on vulnerable Australians despite the introduction of responsible lending laws in 2010. Mis...
Submission: Reserve Bank of Australia – Treasury ATM Taskforce consultations
Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the RBA-Treasury ATM Taskforce's report on the March 2009 ATM reforms. The March 2009 reforms can be considered a broad success, both because...
Submission: National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment Regulations 2011 – exposure draft
Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to comment on the exposure draft of the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment Regulations 2011, setting out the proposed amendment to ban exit fees on...
Submission: Exposure Draft – National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment Regulations 2011
Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to comment on the exposure draft of the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment Regulations 2011, setting out the proposed amendment to ban exit fees on...
Submission: Financial Services Working Group – Corporations Amendment Regulations 2009
Consumer Action is a strong supporter of the objectives of the Financial Services Working Group in endeavouring to make financial services product disclosure simpler and more meaningful for consumers,...
Submission: Access Regime for the ATM System
Consumer Action supports the RBA’s efforts to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of payments systems in Australia, including the ATM system. As the Consultation notes, interchange fee amounts...
Joint submission: Review of the Code of Banking Practice 2007-2008
CHOICE and Consumer Action support and endorse the joint consumer submission to the Review of the Code of Banking Practice. This submission concentrates on the issue of bank penalty fees in more detai...
Submission: Inquiry into competition in the banking and non-banking sectors
Consumer Action is pleased to make a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics inquiry into competition in the banking and non-banking sectors. Our submission conside...
Submission: Financial Services and Credit Reform Green Paper
Consumer Action strongly supports Option 2 proposed on page 12 of the Green Paper, where the Commonwealth Government would assume responsibility, not only for mortgage credit and advice, but also for...
Submission: Reform of Australia’s payments system
Consumer Action is supportive of the approach by the Reserve Bank of Australia to the electronic payments system and we welcome the pragmatism of the RBA in stepping in and regulating interchange fees...
Submission: Inquiry into Australia’s Mandatory Last Resort Home Warranty Insurance Schemes
Consumer Action welcomes the Senate Economics Committee Inquiry into Australia’s Mandatory Last Resort Home Building Warranty Insurance (HBWI) schemes. We have long been concerned that the mandatory H...
Media release: Time well overdue for banks to cut their excessive penalty fees
Consumer Action Law Centre has written to the Australian Bankers Association (ABA) and Abacus Australian Mutuals demanding that banks, credit unions and building societies put a stop to penalty fees t...