Media release: VCAT orders spruiker of computer gambling software to refund consumer

Consumer Action Law Centre has today succeeded in obtaining a refund from a spruiker of computer gambling software at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal). Reliance Investme...

July 11, 2008

Submission: Review of trustee remuneration

As detailed in this submission, we support many of the amendments to the framework for trustee remuneration proposed by the paper. However, we are concerned that the tenor of the paper is primarily de...

July 8, 2008

Submission: Inquiry into the Unit Pricing (Easy comparison of grocery prices) Bill 2008

Consumer Action welcomes opportunity to provide this submission to the Senate Economics Committee’s Inquiry into the Unit Pricing (Easy comparison of grocery prices) Bill 2008. In summary, our reco...

July 7, 2008

Briefing paper: Some views about “Responsible Lending” (July 2008)

To read the briefing paper, please click here....

July 1, 2008

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...

July 1, 2008

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...

July 1, 2008

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...

June 30, 2008

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...

June 5, 2008

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...

May 29, 2008

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...

May 15, 2008

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...

May 1, 2008

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...

April 28, 2008

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...

April 16, 2008

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...

April 10, 2008

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...

March 15, 2008

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...

March 1, 2008

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...

February 28, 2008

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...

February 28, 2008

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....

February 22, 2008

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...

December 21, 2007

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...

December 17, 2007

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...

November 30, 2007

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...

November 30, 2007

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...

November 22, 2007

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...

November 15, 2007

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...

November 13, 2007

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...

November 12, 2007

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...

November 8, 2007

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...

November 2, 2007

Presentation: Consumer Priorities (2007 Abacus Convention Regulatory Affairs Conference)

To read our presentation, please click: Consumer Priorities...

October 1, 2007

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...

October 1, 2007

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...

September 4, 2007

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...

September 1, 2007

Presentation: Penalty fees and the Australian consumer (2007 Credit Conference)

To read our presentation, please click: Debt before dishonour...

September 1, 2007

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...

August 13, 2007

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...

August 1, 2007

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...

July 4, 2007

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...

July 3, 2007

Presentation: Elements of Industry External Dispute Resolution schemes (Consumer External Dispute Resolution Forum)

To read our presentation, please click: Elements of EDR scheme...

July 1, 2007

Presentation: Updating Australia’s consumer protection framework (Consumer External Dispute Resolution Forum)

To read our presentation, please click: Updating Australia’s Consumer Policy Framework...

July 1, 2007

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...

June 29, 2007

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...

June 22, 2007

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...

June 19, 2007

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...

May 26, 2007

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...

May 11, 2007

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...

March 1, 2007

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...

March 1, 2007

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...

February 1, 2007

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...

November 6, 2006

Report: Consumer protection in the National Energy Market

This is a comparison table of consumer protections available across the different National Energy Market jurisdictions....

November 1, 2006