Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) changes the lives of Victorians and Australians through our financial counselling, consumer legal advice and expert policy work.

We work with print, digital and broadcast media across Australia to share the stories of the brave Australians willing to stand up against predatory businesses and business practices.

We specialise in issues impacting vulnerable Australians.

Consumer Action operates a telephone financial counselling service, a consumer legal help line and provides expert policy advice to Governments, businesses and regulators across Australia on the consumer issues impacting vulnerable and low income Australians.

Our office is based in Melbourne, Victoria – but we work on issues of national and Victorian significance.

We also comment on broad, generalist consumer issues. If we feel something is outside of our knowledge, we’ll do our best to refer you to one of our partner organisations.

What we can provide:

• Expert comment on consumer issues for print or broadcast.
• Backgrounding on consumer issues. Our policy experts can explain the issues in plain detail.
• Access to clients and case studies.

What you can expect:

• Quality, authoritative comment from our experts.
• Comment and information free from commercial or political bias. We are independent and not for profit. Our only interest is a fair go for Australians.
• Client stories that are authentic and whose claims have been verified to the best of our ability.

What we expect:

Due to our specialty in assisting vulnerable Australians, many of our clients live with mental health issues, poverty, family violence, low literacy/education and more. We believe these factors often make their stories even more powerful, but our first priority is their health and well being. We always make sure our clients are willing participants before referring them to media. We expect:

• Due care when interacting with our clients. If you are ever concerned about their well being throughout your interaction please contact us immediately.
• Understanding if circumstances change. Sometimes for legal or ethical reasons we may need to remove access to a client. We will endeavour to find an alternative story where possible.
• Patience. We’re a not for profit organisation working with vulnerable Australians. Sometimes our clients can be hard to contact or require significant support to feel confident sharing their story. We will always try our best to meet your deadline, but sometimes these factors can impact how quickly we can provide a case study.

In cases of simple media comment, we will seek to provide you with access to our best suited expert as soon as possible.

View our latest media releases here.