Briefing paper: Some views about “Responsible Lending” (July 2008)
To read the briefing paper, please click here....
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: Financial Services and Credit Reform Green Paper
Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to provide comment on the Financial Services and Credit Reform Green Paper, released by the Australian Government Treasury on 3 June 2008. Consumer Action s...
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...
Media release: Consumer Action launches litigation against Motor Finance Wizard
Consumer Action Law Centre has issued proceedings against Motor Finance Wizard (Melbourne Sales) Pty Ltd (‘Motor Finance Wizard’) and Kwik Finance (Melb) Pty Ltd (‘Kwik Finance’) in the Victorian Civi...
Media release: Consumer Action seeks orders against Australian Institute of Mathematics and Lombard Finance
Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) has instituted legal proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) against Addsup Education trading as Australian Institute...
Media release: Consumer win with unfair debit success contract
Consumer Action Law Centre has obtained a favourable outcome for its client, a mother of two young children, who purchased self defence classes for her children from Albion Self Defence Academy using...
Policy report: The consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974
This comprehensive report examines Australia’s consumer protection framework in light of international developments, including those from the USA, Canada, UK and European Union. The report complements...
Media release: Regional water customers on the drip feed, says Consumer Action
Consumer Action Law Centre has slammed a number of Victorian regional water businesses for unfairly restricting the water supply of consumers and initiating legal action in relation to small debts. T...
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: Consumer Action alleges debit success contract contains unfair terms
Consumer Action Law Centre has instituted legal proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) against Debit Success Pty Ltd (Debit Success) and Rif and Jean Mustafa tra...
Media release: Consumer Action puts traders and Government on notice
Consumer Action Law Centre has released its 2008 Policy Plan on World Consumer Rights Day. Unfair, excessive and unlawful bank penalty fees, high cost exploitative credit and dodgy motor car traders w...
Media release: Consumer Action calls on car parks to be fair
Consumer Action Law Centre has written to two operators of private car parks in Melbourne seeking a review of their business practices and the installation of barriers so that consumers are not fined...
Media release: Finance broker flouts federal court orders, claims Consumer Action
Consumer Action Law Centre has claimed that a finance broker is flouting Federal Court orders. The broker, Sample & Partners, agreed to orders in May 2007 intended to remedy harm caused to hundred...
Media release: Finance broker flouts federal court orders, claims Consumer Action
Consumer Action Law Centre has claimed that a finance broker is flouting Federal Court orders. The broker, Sample & Partners, agreed to orders in May 2007 intended to remedy harm caused to hundred...
Media release: Customers to bear costs for energy retailers failure
Consumer Action Law Centre has labelled the decision by the Essential Services Commission (the ESC) to charge consumers should their retailer go bankrupt or leave the market as outrageous and unfair....
Submission: Discussion paper 72: review of Australian privacy law
Consumer Action welcomes the opportunity to comment on the above Paper prepared by the Australian Law Reform Commission. Our submission focuses on some key credit reporting issues as well as some gene...
Submission: Abacus Draft Code of Practice
Consumer Action has made a submission in relation to the proposed Abacus Australian Mutuals Draft Code of Practice. As a general comment, we record our support for both the tenor and quality of the Dr...
Media release: Consumers challenge basis for rising energy prices
Victorian consumers will be hit by huge energy price increases from 1 January 2008 but without any public information about the basis for these price rises, said Consumer Action Law Centre today. Sta...
Policy report: Coercion and harassment at the door Consumer experiences with energy direct marketers
Since the introduction of full retail contestability in the Victorian energy market, Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) and the Financial & Consumer Rights Council (FCRC) have received n...
Submission: Victorian motor vehicle lemon laws
Consumer Action is pleased to have the opportunity to submit its views regarding the proposed introduction of motor vehicle lemon laws in Victoria. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank...
Media release: Don’t harass us at home, say consumers
Consumer Action Law Centre has today launched a campaign to assist consumers to avoid door-to-door marketers if they wish to do so. The campaign will distribute a ‘Do Not Knock’ sticker, which warns s...
Submission: Alternative dispute resolution – discussion paper
Consumer Action has made a submission on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Discussion Paper prepared by the Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee. In particular, Consumer Action has a number of s...
Submission: Review of the effectiveness of competition in electricity and gas retail markets in Victoria – first draft report
Consumer Action has commented on the Australian Energy Market Commission’s Review of the Effectiveness of Competition in Electricity and Gas Retail Markets – First Draft Report which was released for...
Submission: Water Tariff Structures Review – Issues Paper
Consumer Action has commented on the Essential Services Commission’s Water Tariff Structures Review – Issues Paper released on 22 October 2007. To read our submission, click here: Water Tariff Stru...
Presentation: A consumer advocate’s view on effective internal dispute resolution (WA Energy Ombudsman/Economic Regulatory Authority Utility Dispute Resolution Forum)
To read our presentation, please click: A consumer advocate’s view on effective internal dispute resolution...
Presentation: Consumer Priorities (2007 Abacus Convention Regulatory Affairs Conference)
To read our presentation, please click: Consumer Priorities...
Submission: Civil Justice Reform
Consumer Action is pleased to have the opportunity to submit its views on the second exposure draft of Victorian Law Reform Commission’s review of the civil justice system in Victoria. To read our...
Media release: More penalty fees cut as campaign gains momentum
CHOICE and Consumer Action have welcomed NAB’s announcement today it will cut direct debit dishonour fees from $50 to $30 and will launch a new mainstream transaction account that allows consumers to...
Presentation: Unfair credit contracts – Advocating on behalf of consumers (2007 South Australian Financial Counsellors Association Conference)
To read our presentation, please click: Unfair credit contracts...
Presentation: Penalty fees and the Australian consumer (2007 Credit Conference)
To read our presentation, please click: Debt before dishonour...
Media release: Water businesses not talking to customers says consumer report
Consumer Action Law Centre has publicly released a report asserting that Victorian water businesses are not talking to their customers. The report, Water Reform in Victoria: Independent pricing regula...
Policy Report: Social and Environmental Considerations in Part VII of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth
Part VII of the Trade Practices Act 1974 acknowledges that there are circumstances in which anti-competitive conduct will be permissible - where the detriment caused by the conduct is outweighed by ot...
Keynote address: Formulating a New Approach to Privacy and Trust in the Information Age (Privacy Conference)
To read our presentation, please click: Privacy and Consumer Regulation...
A loan in lease clothing
This project, undertaken by the now disbanded Micah Law Centre, was initiated in response to an increasing number of consumers presenting to financial counselling services because of problems experien...
Presentation: Elements of Industry External Dispute Resolution schemes (Consumer External Dispute Resolution Forum)
To read our presentation, please click: Elements of EDR scheme...
Presentation: Updating Australia’s consumer protection framework (Consumer External Dispute Resolution Forum)
To read our presentation, please click: Updating Australia’s Consumer Policy Framework...
Submission: Victorian Retail Competition Review
Consumer Action is very appreciative of the Commission’s early and informal consultation undertaken in preparation for the review. The Commission’s willingness to consult directly with consumer repres...
Submission: Productivity Commission Inquiry into Australia’s Consumer Policy Framework
Consumer Action has made a submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Australia’s Consumer Policy Framework. To read our submission, click here: Productivity Commission Inquiry into Aus...
Media release: Nationwide campaign targets unfair bank penalty fees
Financial institutions are bracing themselves for a customer backlash against unfair penalty fees, after a nationwide campaign was launched today by CHOICE and Consumer Action Law Centre. Thousands...
Presentation: A consumer advocate’s views on Fringe Lending (2007 Min-it Software Microlenders Conference)
To read our presentation, please click: A consumer advocate’s views on Fringe Lending...
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...
Presentation & Speech: Updating Australia’s Consumer Policy Framework (National Consumer Congress 2007)
To read our presentation, please click: Empowerment and protection- Updating Australia’s Consumer Policy Framework To read our speech, please click: Speech – updating Australia’s consumer policy fram...
Policy Report: Water reform in Victoria
This report examines Victoria’s first independent review of water prices, undertaken by the Essential Services Commission in 2004 and 2005. The report concludes that there was a lack of community cons...
Policy Report: Vendor Terms
Over recent years, vendor terms mortgages have emerged as a way of marketing overpriced homes to predominately low-income consumers. Such mortgages can be particularly harmful as they often involve po...
Policy Report: The need for comprehensive energy-specific consumer protections.
This paper provides an overview of current consumer protections applying to the provision of energy to small-end residential users and argues that continued energy-specific consumer protections are ne...
Report: Consumer protection in the National Energy Market
This is a comparison table of consumer protections available across the different National Energy Market jurisdictions....
Research Report: Implementation of residential hardship policies by Victorian water businesses.
A research report that examines the implementation of residential hardship policies by Victorian water businesses. To read the report, please click here....
Joint Research Report: Electricity reform in Victoria.
A joint research report with the Centre for the Study of Privatisation and Public Accountability at Monash University. To read the report, please click here ...
Report: Water (Access, Affordability and Sustainability)
This Issues Paper considers ways in which to protect consumers’ access to water as a human right, while at the same time ensuring water is returned to the environment. To read, please click here....