News - Consumer Action Law Centre

REPORT: One year on and ASIC report again reveals banks shirking responsibility when customers have been scammed

A new report published today from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reveals a “shameful neglect of thousands of banking customers who have been scammed through no fault of th...

Door-knock sales ban starting this week in Victoria will reduce harms say consumer advocates

Consumer Action Law Centre campaigned long and hard for a ban on door-to-door sales in Victoria and we are delighted that the ban for businesses that are part of the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) ha...

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Network Outage Review

As extreme weather events continue to increase, it is imperative that Victorians’ access to essential services is protected and prioritised by Government, regulators and industry. Consumer Action L...

AFCA scam complaints ‘off the charts’ while banks fail to reimburse customers

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) received a record number of complaints in 2023-24 after disputes to the ombudsman service increased 9 per cent to more than 105,000 for the year. C...

The Energy Retail Code of Practice review

We welcome the opportunity to provide our submission to the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) review of the Energy Retail Code of Practice (the Code). In this submission, where relevant, we hav...

REPORT: Money Yarns, Stronger Futures

Consumer Action Law Centre and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service are thrilled to be jointly publishing our new report today Money Yarns, Stronger Futures. We would like to sincerely thank all...

Money Yarns, Stronger Futures: New Report Highlights Financial Challenges for First Nations People

The Consumer Action Law Centre has today released a groundbreaking report titled Money Yarns, Stronger Futures. The report amplifies the voices of First Nations people, sharing their personal experien...

ASICs ‘Better banking’ project will help First Nations customers -Remaining banks need to do better to reduce fee-harm-

Consumer Action Law Centre congratulates the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s (ASIC) Indigenous Outreach Program team on the success of their Better banking for Indigenous consumers...

Minimum Standards for Rental Properties and Rooming Houses

Consumer Action Law Centre, with Financial Counselling Victoria, the Federation of Community Legal Centres (FCLC), Anika Legal, Westjustice and Community Information & Support Victoria (CISVic),...

POLLING: Big majority of Australians say banks should do their job and take responsibility for keeping our money safe

Banks victim-shaming approach ‘immoral’- Tonkin New polling by Essential Media is unequivocal: the vast majority (75%) of Australians expect banks to keep their money safe from criminal scammers, a...

Services Australia: Centrepay Reform Discussion Paper

This submission to Services Australia is prepared by the Consumer Action Law Centre based on our casework experience. The primary issues we identify in our client files for Centrepay customers are:...

Network Outage Review

Consumer Action Law Centre is delighted to make a submission to the Network Outage Review. We were contacted by a small number of consumers impacted by the network outages in February 2024, and som...

Consumer groups welcome reforms addressing harms caused by a bankruptcy system not fit for purpose

Consumer advocates have been calling for urgent reform for some time and last year outlined key pressure points during a round-table discussion organised by the Federal Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus...

‘ The Telco Code has run its course and failed to deliver’: ACMA must explore other options to protect consumers

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has called on the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to reject a proposed consumer protections code drafted by the telecommu...

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Consumer Action and CHOICE chosen as designated complainants

The Albanese Government has announced today that Consumer Action Law Centre has been chosen as a designated complainant. This means that Consumer Action, with fellow consumer advocate CHOICE, and the...

Review of the National Energy Customer Framework

Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to provide our submission to the Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) review of the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF). In this submission, we draw predo...

Consumer advocates welcome revised Banking Code of Practice with incremental improvements noted

Consumer advocates are welcoming the revised Banking Code of Practice (the Banking Code) announced today which includes some incremental improvements to consumer protections. Consumer Action Law Ce...

REPORT: Energy debt higher than ever as low-income households priced out of essential service

Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin says the Centre’s new report Energy Assistance Report 4th Edition: Keeping the Lights On published today, highlights that thousands of Victorians are st...

REPORT Energy Assistance Report 4th Edition: Keeping the Lights On

The fourth edition of Consumer Action’s Energy Assistance Report outlines the growing trends of people facing energy hardship; barriers to accessing hardship assistance; and priority areas for targete...

Independent Review: Initial Consultation Paper, April 2024

Financial Rights Legal Centre has drafted this submission on behalf of the Consumers Federation of Australia. The following organisations have contributed and are signatories to this submission: •...

Consumer groups welcome new laws regulating Buy Now, Pay Later as credit but some concerns remain

New laws regulating Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) have been announced today. Consumer groups respond as follows: Quotes attributable to Stephanie Tonkin, CEO of Consumer Action Law Centre “We welcom...

OPINION: The victims of scams should not have to pay

First published in today's Herald Sun, by Stephanie Tonkin, CEO Consumer Action Law Centre I speak to the victims of scams every week and their stories leave me shaken and sad. Often, what’s stolen...

Fed Court decision final ‘nail in the coffin’ for predatory lenders Cigno Australia Pty Ltd and BSF Solutions Pty Ltd

Consumer Action Law Centre is delighted the Federal Court has issued a strong decision that calls out Cigno Australia Pty Ltd, BSF Solutions Pty Ltd and two of the entities’ directors for exploiting l...

Victorian Default Offer price drop will help thousands of families but more needs to be done

Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin says the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) decision to lower the Victorian Default Offer (VDO) price is welcome but doesn’t go far enough to help th...

Mandatory codes for scams will work if the Govt can push banks, telcos and big tech companies to lift their game say consumer advocates

Consumer advocates have welcomed the Albanese Government’s plan to set up the legislative framework and push to make the banks, telcos, and digital platforms lift their game to stop scams. The m...

Lenders’ handling of customers’ hardship inadequate, as requests for help soar

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has released a new report today, that outlines findings from a review of 10 large home lenders and concludes they should be doing much more t...

Consumer advocates call for improved domestic family violence protections

Telecommunications consumers experiencing domestic and family violence (DFV) must see mandatory protections through direct regulation, say consumer advocates, in the wake of an important speech by the...

ACCC scam report reveals Australians bearing the losses of a ‘scamdemic’ in a cost-of-living crisis

The huge cost of scams on Australian families in a cost-of-living crisis, is placing an unacceptable burden on a community already doing it tough. That’s the bleak reality of the figures in the Austra...

Applied Insurance Law – Climate Disasters, a free online course

All you need to know about insurance law and climate disasters: and its totally free. Consumer Action’s newest self-paced eLearning module is Applied Insurance Law – Climate Disasters. You will...

Lower Victorian Default Offer for electricity welcomed but consumers in energy hardship need much more relief

More callers in paid employment contacting the National Debt Helpline are struggling with energy debt and reporting an increase in energy retailers providing inadequate hardship assistance. That’s...

Victorian Default Offer Draft Decision 2024-25

Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to provide our submission to the Essential Services Commission (ESC) Draft Decision of the Victorian Default Offer 2024-25. We welcome the ESC’s draft deci...

Buy now pay later exposure draft materials

Our organisations have long advocated for Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) to be regulated as a credit product under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (NCCPA), and so we welcome the major step...

Consultation: Designated complaints determination

With our undersigned sector colleagues, we affirm our previous support for the designated complaints function, and our previous comments about the design and structure of the legislation in our joint...

ACMA Compliance Priorities 2024 – 2025

Thank you for the opportunity to provide input on the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) compliance priorities for the 2024-25 financial year. Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer...

We’re Hiring a Policy Officer (Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Identified)

The First Nations Policy Officer role will provide a dedicated First Nations lens on the policy and campaigns work of Consumer Action Law Centre. Working within a close team of policy and campaigns ex...

Telemarketing and doorknocking ban under the Victorian Energy Upgrades program

Consumer Action reaffirms our strong support of the implementation of this ban on both telemarketing and door to door sales as an important step in addressing the consumer harm that unsolicited sales...

Fighting SMS Scams – What type of SMS sender ID registry should be introduced in Australia?

The Australian Communications Consumer Network's (ACCAN) submission has been informed by feedback from consumer and community organisations who regularly assist consumers affected by scams and other d...

Energy prices hitting families hard and bigger price reductions urgently needed say consumer advocates

Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin has welcomed draft decision by the Essential Services Commission (ESC) that will see a modest decrease in energy bills this year, but as more families a...

OPINION: Slam the legal door on scams

By Stephanie Tonkin, CEO Consumer Action Law Centre (published in the Herald Sun, 18 March 2024) Last week, Scamwatch, our national body fighting scams and part of the Australian Competition and Co...

REPORT: At the front line of the cost-of-living crisis

Interest rates have gone up thirteen times since May 2022. Inflation calculators, which look at purchasing power over time, show that since 2022 there has been a ten percent decrease in the purchasing...

Senate Inquiry: Cost-of-Living crisis highlights the need for supermarket prices to be fair and transparent say consumer advocates

Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin and Acting Director of Financial Counselling Practice Claire Tacon will be giving evidence today at the Senate Select Committee hearing into supermarket...

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