Responsible Lending - Consumer Action Law Centre

Australian Banking Association application for authorisation AA1000645

Consumer Action, Financial Rights and CHOICE are calling on the banking industry to do more to prevent scams, as increasing losses are having a devastating impact on individuals and the Australian eco...

Financial services legislation inquiry – Interim Report C

Consumer Action Law Centre, Consumers' Federation of Australia and Financial Rights Legal Centre have provided feedback on the proposals in the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) Interim Repor...

Good news: Predatory lenders Cigno and BHF won’t escape justice

The success of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) in its Federal Court action against Cigno Pty Ltd (Cigno) and BHF Solutions Pty Ltd (BHF Solutions), is good news which we hop...

Consumer and social service groups welcome community consultation on removing buy-now-pay-later and other credit loopholes

Key consumer and social service groups are welcoming the Federal Government’s announcement that the process of introducing better safeguards for buy now pay later (BNPL) and other credit products has...

Consumer advocates welcome recommendation for stricter controls of credit funded gambling online

Financial Counselling Australia (FCA), Financial Rights Legal Centre and the Consumer Action Law Centre welcome the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services’ recommendation...

Scam losses are increasing dramatically- what should be done?

Opinion piece by Gerard Brody, CEO Consumer Action As more and more people contact Consumer Action Law Centre regarding scam losses, and increasingly large losses, I've been thinking about the adequa...

Fairness, respect, reflection, courage: Our strategic plan 2021-25

Our strategic plan 2021-2025 is a snapshot of our priorities and ambitions for the next four years. We use our skills and knowledge in the law, financial counselling, policy, campaigning, and advoc...

Consumer advocates ‘gobsmacked’ by majority Senate report on predatory lending laws

A newly released report by the Senate Economics Legislation Committee has recommended Parliament pass proposed laws that fall woefully short of what advocates say is needed to protect people from pred...

“Recipe for economic disaster”: Consumer groups slam Senate report on lending laws

Consumer groups condemn the majority’s recommendations of today’s Senate Inquiry Report, as the vote looms next week on the Government's disastrous proposal to axe safe lending laws. The repeal of...

People should not be living in poverty in Australia

“The Coronavirus Supplement was life changing for people who had long survived on the abhorrent amount Newstart (or JobSeeker) had been set at for years. For so long, they had to be great money manage...

Saving Responsible Lending: Senate Committee opening statement

On 19 February 2021, Gerard Brody, CEO of Consumer Action Law Centre and Fiona Guthrie, CEO, Financial Counselling Australia spoke at the Senate Economics Legislation Committee hearing on the Nation...

Over 590,000 Australians have relied on safe lending laws for justice

As the Senate Economics Committee hosts hearings in Canberra today, over 22,000 Australians have joined the call for Federal Senators to strengthen instead of repeal safe lending laws, with many sha...

Submission: Consultation on revision to the new Prudential Standard APS 220 Credit Risk Management

This submission is from Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Rights Legal Centre, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, CHOICE, Financial Counselling Australia, Consumer Credit Law Service (W...

Opinion: Responsible lending law repeal will undo good

First published in the Herald Sun, 8 February 2021. In the two years since the Hayne Royal Commission Final Report while the Federal Government has made some changes to strengthen consumer protecti...

‘A disastrous winding back of consumer protections’: Consumer groups call on lawmakers to reject proposed changes

Proposed changes to consumer credit laws before the Senate must be rejected as they risk harm to individuals and families and hindering the economic recovery they are intended to promote. That is t...

Submission: National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Supporting Economic Recovery) Bill 2020

This submission is made on behalf of Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action), Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financial Rights), Financial Counselling Australia, Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA)...

Consumer advocates call for Parliament to vote against watered-down protections against predatory lenders

Consumer advocates have rejected the Federal Government’s proposed changes to laws governing high-cost payday loans and consumer leases, calling for Parliament to vote against the Bill in a submission...

Submission from the Stop the Debt Trap Alliance: National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Supporting Economic Recovery) Bill 2020

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Image of Australia's Parliament House in Canberra

Consumer groups comment on Banking Royal Commission reforms

Consumer groups welcome today’s passage of Royal Commission recommendations into law, but condemn the government for introducing the law to axe safe lending laws into the House. “This week the govern...

Calling out the banks: Why responsible lending laws need to stay intact

First published in The Age/Sydney Morning Herald, 2 December 2020 It's a great pity that the banks are weighing in so publicly to support the rollback of our responsible lending laws. Just when...

Private member’s Bill addresses Government’s ‘half-baked’ proposals on payday loans and high-cost leases

A private member’s Bill introduced in Parliament today by Andrew Wilkie MP would, if passed, greatly reduce the harm that high-cost payday loans and consumer leases cause to thousands of Australians....

Product intervention power for continuing credit contracts – some further considerations

Consumer Action, Financial Rights Legal Centre and WEstjustice have made a second submission to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s (ASIC) Consultation Paper 330 (CP 330), in which A...

Buy now pay later report reveals one-in-five users going without essentials like meals

A report released today on the buy now pay later (BNPL) industry reveals statistics that suggest many Australians are being pushed into financial harm. The report by the Australian Securities &...

Predatory lending risks undermining Government’s economic recovery effort

With jobs, household spending and economic recovery the focus of last night’s Budget, the Stop the Debt Trap Alliance is warning that lax protections from predatory lenders risk undermining the Gover...

Corporate regulator takes legal action to stop harmful rogue lending

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) this week commenced legal proceedings against Cigno Pty Ltd (Cigno) and BHF Solutions Pty Ltd (BHFS), alleging the companies provided credit...

Government-led Senate Committee backs strengthening consumer protections for predatory payday loans and high-cost leases

A Senate Committee has handed down its final report on proposed reforms to payday loans and consumer leases in the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consu...

Report misses the mark on buy now pay later regulation

The Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology has published its Interim Report. Consumer groups say the Interim Report has missed the mark on its recommendation encoura...

Responsible lending law reform needed urgently

Consumer groups are extremely disappointed in ASIC’s decision not to appeal the Full Federal Court’s decision in the Westpac case to the High Court of Australia.[1] The Financial Rights Legal Centr...

ASIC’s overhaul of responsible lending guidance should focus lenders on the welfare of borrowers

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) and Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financial Rights) say ASIC’s overhaul of its responsible lending guidance is a welcome announcement in the wake of the d...

Consumer protections in insurance about to take a much-needed leap forward

The general insurance industry’s new code of practice is a long awaited and necessary advancement, according to the Financial Rights Legal Centre (Financial Rights) and Consumer Action Law Centre (Con...

Giving energy users access to fair finance for new energy tech

On 9 September 2019, Consumer Action attended a pre-decision conference on AA1000439 New Energy Tech Consumer Code (The Code) Application. We have provided a further submission following the discussio...

Rent4Keeps sued over unaffordable consumer leases

A Victorian woman living with a disability has brought proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court regarding five consumer lease contracts from Darranda Pty Ltd, trading as Rent4Keeps, and Mobberley Ente...

Keeping comprehensive credit reporting fair for those who have previously experienced hardship

Leading consumer advocacy bodies are concerned that customers who experience financial difficulty repaying loans will be unfairly penalised by credit reporting reforms proposed by the National Consume...

Submission: Inquiry into credit and financial services targeted at Australians at risk of financial hardship

ASIC’s proposed ban on outbound phone sales of life, funeral and consumer credit insurance

Unsolicited selling is an outdated and abusive practice with a significant risk of mis-selling people products they don’t want, need or understand. Financial Rights Legal Centre and Consumer Action...

Insurance pricing differences: New vs existing customers

Support for an independent review of the Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice

In our joint submission with Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA), Financial Counselling Australia and the Financial & Consumer Rights Council, we support Cameron Ralp...

Protecting guarantors from financial abuse

In our feedback to the Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) inquiry into banks’ compliance when accepting and enforcing guarantees, Consumer Action discusses our concerns with guarantee provision...

Opening statement: Public hearing on ASIC’s responsible lending guidance

The following is the opening statement from Consumer Action CEO, Gerard Brody at the public hearing on ASIC’s responsible lending guidance held in Melbourne on Monday, 19 August 2019. I’m G...

NZ Select Committee on Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill: Opening Remarks

The below statement was delivered on 31 July 2019 by Consumer Action Law Centre CEO, Gerard Brody to the New Zealand Select Committee on Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill. High co...

Consumer Action lodges complaint to Commonwealth Ombudsman about the Department of Human Services’ poor administration of Centrepay

Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) has made a formal complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman about the Department of Human Services (DHS). This complaint comes after the department failed o...

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