Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee’s Class Action Inquiry

Class actions provide Australians a valuable mechanism for accessing justice where systematic or repetitive conduct by the same party has caused similar harm to numerous individuals. Class actions als...

June 18, 2020

Comment to the Class Action Inquiry

Consumer Action has provided comment to the Parliamentary Joint Committee’s inquiry, Litigation funding and the regulation of the class action industry (Class Action Inquiry). Class actions p...

June 17, 2020

Submission: Maximum prices for embedded networks and other exempt sellers

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Essential Service Commission’s (ESC) Maximum prices for embedded networks and other exempt sellers Draft Decisio...

June 17, 2020

Submission to the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19

Our clients have been affected by the COVID-19 emergency, and the Australian Government’s response, in a number of ways. In many cases we have experienced a short-term decrease in demand on financi...

May 29, 2020

Submission: Bushfire Royal Commission and insurance affordability

Consumer Action’s submission to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements covers the insurance and financial challenges faced by communities in the aftermath of the Black Summer...

April 27, 2020

Consumer group tells Bushfire Royal Commission that climate change is creating a perfect storm for insurance affordability

Consumer Action has warned that climate change is expected to make insurance unaffordable for many as extreme weather events hit Australia as part of its submission to the Bushfire Royal Commission re...

April 27, 2020

Joint Submission: Implementing the Royal Commission recommendations: Mortgage brokers and the best interests duty

A joint consumer submission from Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA), CHOICE,Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and Financial Rights Legal Centre. It’s time to make mortgage...

April 6, 2020

Product design and distribution obligations –ASIC Consultation Paper 325

Consumer groups have commented on ASIC’s Consultation Paper 325 – Product design and distribution obligations. We strongly support the introduction of product design and distribution obligations (DDOs...

April 6, 2020

Assessing the energy retail market’s competitiveness and efficiency

Consumer Action has provided a submission to the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) consultation "Assessing the competitiveness and efficiency of the Victorian energy retail market" The submissi...

April 6, 2020

Treasury consultation: Enhancements to Unfair Contract Term Protections

Consumer Action has provided a joint submission to Treasury's consultation on Enhancements to Unfair Contract Term (UCT) Protections. Nearly a decade of the current UCT legislative regime has not e...

April 6, 2020

Joint submission: Re: Financial Regulator Assessment Authority Bill 2020

This is a joint consumer submission from Financial Rights Legal Centre, CHOICE and the Consumer Action Law Centre to Treasury providing comment on the Financial Regulator Assessment Authority Bill 202...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission to the Treasury re: Duty to take reasonable care not to make a misrepresentation to an insurer

This is a joint consumer submission from the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Financial Counselling Australia, and the Consumer C...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission: Exposure draft – Deferred sales model for add-on insurance – FSRC Rec 4.3

This submission has been prepared by Consumer Action Law Centre with contributions and endorsement from Financial Rights Legal Centre, Financial Counselling Australia, CHOICE, Consumer Credit Law Cent...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission: Exposure draft – No hawking of financial products – FSRC Rec 3.4 and 4.1

This submission has been prepared by Consumer Action Law Centre with contributions and endorsements from Financial Rights Legal Centre, CHOICE, Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA), and Financial Counse...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission: Strengthening breach reporting

This is a joint consumer submission from Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA), CHOICE, Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Rights Legal Centre. We strongly support proposed reforms to the breach re...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission: Enforceability of financial services industry codes

This is a joint submission by Financial Rights Legal Centre, the Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE, Financial Counselling Australia, Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA) and the Consumers’ Federation o...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission re: Exposure Draft Implementation of ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce – Directions Power

This submission has been drafted by Consumer Action Law Centre with contributions and endorsement from Financial Rights Legal Centre, CHOICE, Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA), and Financial Counsell...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission re: Exposure Draft: Cap on vehicle dealer commissions

This submission has been drafted by Consumer Action Law Centre with contributions and endorsement from Financial Rights Legal Centre, CHOICE, Financial Counselling Australia, and Consumer Credit Legal...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission: Financial Services Royal Commission Recommendations 4.6 – Limiting avoidance of life insurance contracts

This is a joint consumer submission from the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and Consumer Credit...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission: Financial Services Royal Commission Additional commitment in response to Recommendation 4.2 – Restricting the use of the term ‘insurance’ and ‘insurer’

This is a joint submission from the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE, Financial Counselling Australia and Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA) and provides comment on th...

March 10, 2020

Joint submission: Re: Ongoing fee arrangements and disclosure of lack of independence

This is a joint consumer submission from Financial Rights Legal Centre, CHOICE and the Consumer Action Law Centre. Read the full submission [here]  ...

March 10, 2020

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...

March 6, 2020

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...

February 25, 2020

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...

February 20, 2020

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...

February 18, 2020

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!...

February 13, 2020

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...

February 11, 2020

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...

February 5, 2020

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...

February 5, 2020

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...

January 21, 2020

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...

January 16, 2020

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...

January 14, 2020

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...

January 10, 2020

FinTech and RegTech should support positive outcomes for consumers

While we support the development of innovative services and business models that genuinely meet the needs of consumers much of the existing legal and regulatory frameworks are no longer fit for purpos...

December 23, 2019

Lack of minimum efficiency standards put renters at greater risk of energy debts

The financial counsellors working on 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...

December 18, 2019

Strong compliance and enforcement is needed in telecommunications industry

Consumer Action receives 2-3 new calls per week through our legal assistance and worker advice lines or the National Debt Helpline about clients who are negatively affected by unaffordable phone debt....

December 12, 2019

Enhanced protections and clearer responsibilities will better support retirees

There are many systemic issues exist with retirement housing that adversely affect retirees’ wellbeing in their golden years. These include housing providers using threats of eviction to discourage re...

December 6, 2019

Giving energy users access to fair finance for new energy tech

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the AA1000439 – New Energy Tech Consumer Code— consultation on proposed amendments to draft Code (Proposed Amendment...

November 7, 2019

Local councils must take financial hardship into account when collecting rates

Financial counsellors assist clients who are experiencing financial hardship. Most of WEstjustice’s and Consumer Action’s clients are grappling with debts and meeting the high cost of living in Melbou...

November 1, 2019

Access to basic bank accounts essential for vulnerable banking customers

In our joint submission with Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financial Rights) and Financial Counselling Australia (FCA), we offered strong support for the conditions proposed by the ACCC in its Draft...

October 31, 2019

Effective banking codes require enforcement measures with teeth

In our joint submission with Financial Rights Legal Centre to Report Three of the Customer Owned Banking Association’s (COBA) independent review of the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice (COBA Co...

October 31, 2019

Good consumer outcomes should not be sacrificed for bankers’ bonuses

The financial services industry plays an essential role in the lives of Australians, from providing for day-to-day transactions to providing for a comfortable retirement. Markets were opened becaus...

October 23, 2019

Funeral expenses only products must be held to a higher standard

Consumer advocates have held long standing concerns over the inadequate regulatory framework for funeral expenses products. In our joint submission with Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financial Rig...

October 22, 2019

All Victorians deserve access to fair energy pricing

Since its implementation on 1 July 2019, the Victorian Default Offer (VDO) has given more Victorian energy users access to fairer pricing for their essential electricity services. In our comment to...

October 17, 2019

Protecting Australian families from dodgy vendor terms and rent-to-buy arrangements

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...

October 15, 2019

Energy compliance and performance reporting guideline

Monitoring is only as effective as the information gathered. In our submission to the Essential Services Commission (ESC) Compliance and Performance Reporting Guideline updated to include new entit...

October 14, 2019

Financial product design and distribution obligations must be consumer centred and limit loopholes

The Design and Distribution Obligations (DADOS) require financial service providers to provide products that meet customer needs rather than focussing on securing the sale. In our joint submission on...

October 11, 2019

ASIC Enforcement Review

In our joint response to exposure draft legislation implementing certain aspects of the ASIC Enforcement Review Taskforce (ERT) Final Report, Consumer Action and Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financi...

October 11, 2019

Customer-owned banking code must adequately address financial vulnerability

In our joint submission with Financial Rights Legal Centre to the Report Two of the Customer Owned Banking Association’s (COBA) independent review of the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice (COBA...

October 10, 2019

Making it easier for vulnerable customers to access fee-free banking

Access to fee-free ‘basic bank accounts’ are an important support for vulnerable banking customers. In light of the harm banking fees can cause for low-income and vulnerable consumers, Commissioner Ha...

October 10, 2019