Financial Exclusion - Consumer Action Law Centre

ConsumerAction · Save Sorry Business Day of Action 3 August with Josephine Beckhurst

PODCAST: Josephine Beckhurst and the #SaveSorryBusiness Canberra Day of Action

Josephine Beckhurst is a Yorta Yorta woman from Barmah in Victoria's north. Josephine and her family are among the many thousands of First Nations Australians ripped off by Youpla/ACBF, the funeral in...

ConsumerAction · Dianne Dejanovic, Consumer Action's longest serving financial counsellor

PODCAST: Dianne Dejanovic, Consumer Action’s longest serving financial counsellor

Dianne Dejanovic worked for 13 years as a financial counsellor on the National Debt Helpline at Consumer Action. She has helped thousands of people during her time and made a massive contribution t...

Opinion: Victoria needs a fair default offer for household gas supply

Reports of gas bills to rise by $150 per annum adds unwanted pressure to Victorian household budgets, when inflationary pressures are already biting.* Over a long period, unfair market tactics have...

Youpla collapse to fuel ‘trauma and intergenerational debt’ for Indigenous families across Australia

A coalition of over 125 organisations has released an open letter to both major parties calling for urgent action to prevent more than ten thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families from...

The Australian Communication and Media Authority’s compliance priorities 2022-23

The impact of COVID-19 and lockdowns during 2021 underscored the essential nature of telecommunications, as well as the effect of poor telecommunications practices on people experiencing vulnerability...

Quality of financial advice review–Draft Terms of Reference

Conflicted remuneration is the root cause of many of the problems uncovered by the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry (Royal Commission)....

Our comments on the Telecommunications Reform Bill

Telecommunications services are essential services – but are not regulated as such despite their critical role across the country. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on this plan to reform an in...

Consumer issues in Victorian Aboriginal communities during 2020

A report Consumer Issues in Victorian Aboriginal Communities during 2020 published today by Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) uses quantit...

Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee’s Class Action Inquiry

Class actions provide Australians a valuable mechanism for accessing justice where systematic or repetitive conduct by the same party has caused similar harm to numerous individuals. Class actions als...

A joint submission to the Electricity Distribution Price Review (2022-2027 Victorian EDPR)

Affordable electricity remains critical for vulnerable Victorians and a lack of energy affordability denies people sufficient access to an essential service. Further, high energy costs are a major cau...

Australians urged to share their stories about financial hardship during COVID-19

Today, Consumer Action Law Centre has launched an online form to enable people to share their experiences of financial hardship during the Covid-19 emergency. The goal is to help track the severity an...

A little relief will go a long way for thousands struggling due to COVID-19

Widespread disruption caused by COVID-19 is being felt across Australia. It won’t be long before we have thousands of people trying to survive on a reduced income, worried about whether they can pay t...

New report reveals how irresponsible lenders are causing harm in Victorian Aboriginal communities

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) are launching a new report on how irresponsible lenders are causing harm in Victorian Aboriginal communit...

Consumer Issues in Victorian Aboriginal Communities: Integrated Practice Project Report 2020

‘Consumer issues in Victorian Aboriginal communities’ reports findings from Consumer Action Law Centre’s (Consumer Action) and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service’s (VALS) Integrated Practice proje...

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Finance Sector – Submission on Round 4 Hearings (General)

Consumer Action Law Centre has published its submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Finance Sector following the Round 4 hearings on issues affecting Aus...

Joint submission: Attorney-General’s Department Review of Financial Hardship Arrangements

Consumer advocates consider that any additional information permitted to be shared or held as part of the credit reporting system is inherently a further privacy intrusion and must be justified to be...

Submission: Reforms to strengthen penalties for corporate and financial sector misconduct – Draft Legislation

Review into the Australian Taxation Office’s use of Garnishee Notices

We reject the legal status quo which enables garnishee orders issued prior to bankruptcy to continue to garnish the wages of bankrupted individuals post-bankruptcy. As we understand it, garnishee ord...

Are we there yet? (the mysterious case of the vanishing SACC Bill)

...

An agenda for ageing in Victoria

Currently, there is no plan for the increased longevity and diversity of Victoria’s population. The result is a fragmented approach to policy and programs relating to older people between the ages of...

Drought legal assistance scoping project – Final report

Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) contracted Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) to undertake a detailed scoping and service model development project for Drought Legal Assistance for Victoria. This...

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Finance Sector – Consumer Action submission part 2

Consumer Action Law Centre has published part 2 of its submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Finance Sector today. The submission draws on the experienc...

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Finance Sector – Consumer Action submission part 1

Consumer Action Law Centre has published part 1 of its initial submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Finance Sector today. The submission draws on the e...

Submission: Paper Billing Consultation Paper

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) is pleased to make this submission in response to the Paper Billing Consultation Paper (Consultation Paper). Consumer Action supports Option 2 in the Co...

Inquiry into the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Cashless Debit Card) Bill 2017: Submission

Consumer Action joins with FamilyCare Shepparton to make this submission. Shepparton is the only Victorian community that is currently subject to income management, a policy similar to the Cashless De...

EDR Review – Treasury Laws Amendment (External Dispute Resolution) Bill and Regulations 2017 exposure draft

Consumer advocates welcome the move to a one-stop shop external dispute resolution (EDR) scheme for all disputes in the financial system. Read the full submission here [PDF]...

Victoria Legal Aid, Means Test Review, Options Paper – submission

Consumer Action has made a submission to the Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) Means Test Review. The submission strongly supports the introduction of a public interest exemption to the VLA means test. To be...

Submission: Consumer Property Law Review—Sale of land and business: options for reform

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) is pleased to make this submission in response to Consumer Affairs Victoria's Sale of land and business: options for reform (Options Paper), as part of the...

Design, scope, cost-benefit analysis, contracts awarded and implementation associated with the Better Management of the Social Welfare System initiative

The Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) is pleased to provide a submission to the Inquiry on the Design, scope, cost-benefit analysis, contracts awarded and implementation associated with the...

SERVICES

ASSISTANCE FROM US

COURSES

RESOURCES

ENGAGE WITH US

SUPPORT IS HERE:

POLICY

CAMPAIGNS

CHANGE IS HERE:

ABOUT US

WORK WITH US

WHO WE HELP

WE ARE HERE: