Media Release - Consumer Action Law Centre

Media release: Life insurance report lacks imagination in failing to look beyond commission based sales

The life insurance industry’s initial response to a damning report which revealed 37 per cent of all life insurance advice provided by Australia’s financial services licensees failed to comply with th...

Media release: ‘Vendor terms’ home ownership deal a fantasy with no basis in reality

The spotlight will be on ‘vendor terms’ home sales in a new case before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). ‘Vendor terms’ contracts are an alternative to mainstream bank mortgages...

Media Release: Financial System Inquiry puts consumer welfare first

Consumer Advocate urges Government to implement recommendations ASAP The David Murray-led Financial System Inquiry represents a “paradigm shift” for Australia’s financial system. The report recogni...

Media release: Major parties urged to commit to helping vulnerable seniors before election

Overly complex contract terms and unfair fee structures can make the decision to move into retirement accommodation a gamble. Many Victorians move into purpose-built retirement villages or other retir...

Media release: Ensuring ‘fixed’ means ‘fixed’ when it comes to energy contracts

Consumer Action Law Centre and the Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre welcomed the Coalition's announcement that it will ban energy retailers using the term "fixed" when referring to contracts with va...

Energy retailers given green light to increase prices at will

Consumer advocates lament a lost opportunity to repair Australia’s broken energy retail market Energy retailers will continue increasing prices at their leisure after the Australian Energy Market Com...

Media release: Victorian energy retailers failing struggling customers – disconnection on the rise

The Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria (EWOV) Annual Report for 2013/14 suggests energy retailers are failing to offer sufficient assistance to customers struggling with high bills. During the year,...

Media release: Government’s pre election energy statement a welcome addition to the debate

Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the State Government’s pre election energy statement, in particular the focus on making Victoria’s energy market easier to navigate, and keeping vulnerable memb...

Media release: Parliament urged to protect Victorian home owner-builders

In its final sitting week, the Victorian Parliament is being urged to pass new domestic building consumer protections into law as a matter of priority. The Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 wou...

Media release: Stitched up by two traders in the one deal – Foton Dandenong & All Loans R Us in the spotlight

After a protracted legal battle, car dealer Foton Dandenong has been found to have broken the Australian Consumer Law by selling a defective car. An associated company, All Loans R Us financed the pur...

Media release: Investigation into energy disconnections a welcome first step

Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the Victorian Government’s announcement that it has directed the Essential Services Commission to conduct an investigation into the underlying causes of energy...

Media release: Energy market failing Victorian households, annual market report shows

An annual review of Australia’s energy markets suggest competition alone isn’t enough to keep the market running efficiently and to keep energy prices down. Research commissioned by the Australian Ene...

Media release: Credit reporting agency accused of breaching new credit reporting rules

Veda Advantage Ltd, a company which stores the credit history of millions of Australians, has been accused of breaching new credit reporting laws by promoting its $79.95 credit report at the expense o...

Media release: Energy retailers given the green light to increase prices at will

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is set to rubber stamp energy retailers’ ability to increase prices for consumers as often as they like. Energy retailers would have been banned from inc...

Media release: New report calls on energy retailers to improve support for struggling households

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Media release: As fixed term interest rates fall to record lows, borrowers advised to look beyond the short term

As Australian banks cut fixed term interest rates on home loans to record lows, financial counsellors at Consumer Action Law Centre have advised prospective borrowers to consider the longer term and w...

Media Release: Murray Inquiry – focus on fairness welcome for consumers

Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the interim report from the Murray Inquiry into Australia’s financial system, and its acknowledgment that fairness, along with stability and efficiency, are imp...

Media Release: Revised debt collection guideline should improve industry conduct

Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the revised Debt Collection Guideline published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commi...

Media Release: Making home insurance fair and simple – Consumer Action welcomes new report findings

A new report by the Office of the Fire Services Levy Monitor has lifted the veil on Australia’s home insurance industry, exposing high profits, poor product and price disclosure, and a severe lack of...

Media Release: Inquiry recommends changes to ASIC

Consumer Action welcomes much of the findings of the Senate Standing Committees on Economics Inquiry into the Performance of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and commends A...

Media release: Single mother of four appeals VCAT second-hand car decision to Supreme Court

A Victorian mother of four has requested leave to appeal a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) decision in the Supreme Court. She took M&G Motors to VCAT in January 2014, seeking a...

Media release: Commission of Audit recommendation to cut funding for financial counselling fails struggling families

Thousands of Victorian working families, pensioners and those in financial hardship will be the biggest losers if the Federal Government adopts yesterday’s Commission of Audit recommendation to cut fu...

Media release: Dozo car sales ordered to pay $2,150 after breaching consumer guarantees

Dozo Car Sales has been ordered to pay $2,150 to a vulnerable consumer after it refused, within a reasonable time, to provide a refund on a defective car and, instead, bought it back at a reduced pric...

Media release: New fund to protect consumers from dodgy or fly by night builders

Victorians building or extending their homes can do so with greater confidence following the Victorian Government’s announcement of a Building Consumer Protection Fund to protect consumers from dodgy...

Media release: Charging $120 to bankrupt? Sadly it’s no April fool’s joke

Charging struggling Australians a filing fee for bankruptcy is like trying to get blood from a stone. Consumer advocates and financial counselling agencies say the $120 fee, to be charged from 1 April...

Media release: More than 1 in 2 consumers are throwing their mobile allowance in the trash

Three leading consumer organisations have joined forces, calling on Australians to stop throwing away their monthly mobile phone allowance and help drive greater competition from providers. New resea...

Media release: New laws give credit providers access to more of your information

Wednesday 12 March marks the introduction of a new credit reporting system which will collect far more information about Australians’ credit history. The extra information is supposed to help credit p...

Media release: Consumer advocate welcomes Government focus on lease providers

Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the Federal Government’s proposal to extend consumer protections to short term and indefinite leases, which aren’t covered by national credit laws. These leases...

Media release: Australian households to get their say on rising energy bills

Australians are being asked their opinion on a proposal to stop energy retailers increasing prices mid contract. Consumer advocates have been frustrated that current market rules allow retailers to in...

Media release: Advocates object to new fee for entering bankruptcy

A coalition of consumer advocates and financial counselling agencies has expressed dismay at a plan to charge Australians filing for bankruptcy. The Australian Financial Security Authority (ASFA) has...

Media release: High cost of car cases in VCAT putting justice out of reach

A Victorian couple has successfully used the Australian Consumer Law to claim $17,495 from Melbourne Street Cars after it sold her a faulty 2003 Nissan X Trail. But while the victory in the Victorian...

Media release: End energy retailers’ free ride

New proposal to fix energy prices for length of contract Energy retailers would be banned from increasing a customer’s tariff mid contract under a proposal to be considered by the Australian Energy M...

Media release: Consumer protections can drive economic growth and innovation in financial system

Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the Federal Government’s inquiry into Australia’s financial system. In its submission on the inquiry’s draft terms of reference, Consumer Action has suggested t...

Media release: The numbers show Consumer Credit Insurance is a poor deal for consumers

New figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority show Australians spent $330 million on Consumer Credit Insurance in the twelve months to June this year, yet only 23 cents in every doll...

Media release: Repeal of carbon price to expose broken, uncompetitive energy markets

Politicians and policymakers who believe a move away from carbon pricing will result in a drop in retail electricity prices haven’t been paying attention – Australia’s retail energy markets are broken...

Media release: Cash Converters sued for breaching its responsible lending obligations

Two Cash Converters franchises are being sued in the Magistrates Court by a Victorian mother who received 83 payday loans over three and a half years–54 of which were loans from Cash Converters outlet...

Media release: Review finds online lenders are reluctant to embrace the spirit of new regulations

A review conducted by the Consumer Action Law Centre has found that some online lenders providing 'payday loans' are reluctant to embrace the spirit of new regulations intended to provide consumers wi...

Press statement: Consumer groups welcome desalination plant refinancing

Consumer Action Law Centre and Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre (CUAC) have welcomed news that Melbourne households would benefit from the early refinancing of the desalination plant project. ‘Ma...

Media release: Federal Court finds Do Not Knock Sign is ‘an unambiguous request to leave the premises’

The inventor of the Do Not Knock sticker has welcomed today’s Federal Court ruling that the sticker is legally enforceable under the Australian Consumer Law. The decision means ignoring the sticker co...

Joint media release: Some win, some lose in concessions shakeup

New restrictions on Victoria’s energy concessions will make it harder for some low income Victorians to access affordable electricity and gas, and discriminate against concession holders based upon th...

Media release: Maurice Blackburn class action to highlight the sad truth about payday lending

Consumer Action Law Centre welcomes Maurice Blackburn’s class action against Cash Converters, which alleges Cash Converters ‘illegally exploited thousands of financially struggling Australians by impo...

Media release: ASIC case against The Cash Store to shape the future of payday lending

One of Australia’s biggest payday lenders, The Cash Store, will face allegations of irresponsible lending and unconscionable conduct before the Federal Court. The case being brought by the Australian...

Media release: Australian Power and Gas the latest energy retailer taken to court over door-to-door selling

The organisation behind the national Do Not Knock campaign, has welcomed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Federal Court proceedings against Australian Power & Gas Compan...

Media release: Time to end the funeral insurance rip-off say consumer advocates

A coalition of eleven consumer and older Australian advocates has released a thirteen point strategy to end the funeral insurance rip-off. The strategy was created after the advocates identified a num...

Media release: ACCC shuts the gates on tricky vacuum cleaner salespeople

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Full Federal Court victory against a company that sold vacuum cleaners costing more than $2000 to elderly women in their homes has sent a cl...

Joint media release: Independent review confirms Centrepay is a good idea that has lost its way

Two of Australia’s leading consumer organisations have welcomed Ms Anna Buduls’ independent report into Centrepay—a payment system which helps Centrelink recipients manage their income. Financial Coun...

Media release: Move to emissions trading scheme could wipe $185 off annual power bills – but regulators must play a role

As delegates converge on Brisbane for the annual regulators conference, Consumer Action Law Centre has urged national and state energy regulators to ensure any move to an emission trading scheme resul...

Media release: Energy retailers improve their behaviour, but Simply Energy & Red Energy didn’t get the memo

335 complaints about door-to-door salespeople have now been lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission through donotknock.consumeraction.org.au And while the latest round of compla...

Media release: New report highlights procedural failings in Magistrates Court—80 per cent of small money claims go undefended

A new report from the Consumer Action Law Centre calls for changes to Magistrates Court procedures to protect consumers from inaccurate law suits and inappropriate judgments. Each year 30,000 to 40,00...

Media release: New payday lending protections welcome, but lenders get a back door to charge more fees

This week marks the introduction of new consumer protections in the payday lending industry. Payday lenders—which lend small amounts of money to low-income Australians at huge interest rates—are now r...

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