News

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) congratulates the Attorney General’s Department on the proposed reform to modernise Australia’s legislation to be better equipped to protect, in an increasingly online world, how people’s information is collected, stored and used.

Consumer Action strongly supports the proposed reforms, particularly  the implications they will have on lead generation, a perverse and harmful process where people’s details are collected and used to manipulate them towards purchasing poorly suited and unsafe products. The introduction of a fair and reasonable test obligation on the handling of consumer information, the inclusion of a disclosure definition and the expanded definition of consent to be voluntary, informed, current, specific and unambiguous, will have the most impact on this harmful consumer issue.

While these reforms are a welcomed advance, Consumer Action suggests that enforcing these amended laws will need dedicated focus and resourcing of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). A direct right of action is also critical to the success of this reform to test the new laws in a rapidly changing environment and ensure wider accountability for breaches and ultimately deterrence.

Read the full submission (PDF).