A new survey, commissioned by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), has revealed that 12 per cent of respondents experienced unexpected third party charges on their mobile phone bills in the last six months. “Applied to the mobile customer base of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone, this 12 per cent equates to almost 1.9m people [...]
Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) has begun civil proceedings against Origo & Co Pty Ltd (ACN: 140 019 656) - previously Daiso (Australia) Pty Ltd - in the Federal Court of Australia, for alleged contraventions of product safety provisions and other protections under the Australian Consumer Law. CAV will allege that between 2011 and 2016, the [...]
A new safety standard for decorative alcohol-fuelled devices, also known as ethanol burners, will ensure consumers’ safety, Small Business Minister Michael McCormack says. “I'm worried about the harm these products can cause consumers, which is why I've made a safety standard which particularly targets table-top devices which pose the greatest risk,” Mr McCormack said. Mr [...]
Media release from Energy Consumers Australia, July 6 2017: Energy Consumers Australia today published the results of its third national survey of the attitudes and activity of household and small business energy consumers. Energy Consumers Australia CEO Rosemary Sinclair said the survey of 2,300 consumers, undertaken between 30 March and 6 April 2017, was consistent [...]
CHOICE finds 62% of Australians faced issues with their internet in the past six months, with Telstra ranked last for value for money CHOICE’s internet satisfaction survey has found Australians have been plagued by disconnections and drop-outs, connection issues and slow speeds over the past six months, with consumers least satisfied with Telstra and Dodo. [...]
Announcement from Consumers International (CI): In a very positive step forward, national consumer protection ministries and agencies have reached agreement on a proposal for the United Nations (UN) to make World Consumer Protection Week an official UN observance. The proposal calls for the week to be held each year in the week in which the [...]
One of New South Wales’ most respected and longest-serving public servants, Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe, has announced his retirement. Mr Stowe will retire in July after more than 40 years’ continuous service to the NSW public, including almost three decades in the consumer affairs portfolio, under 18 different Ministers, and six years as Commissioner. [...]
Consumers are protected by legislation controlling the way in which pre-packed food and other goods are labelled. Long established protection will disappear if the Government agrees to some of the options in a Government Review Paper Review of Part 4 of the National Trade Measurement Regulations Options Paper. The National Measurement Institute within the Department of [...]
The Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA) have called on the Federal Government to support the recognition of World Consumer Rights Day as an official United Nations Observance. Consumers International (CI) are currently campaigning for the United Nations to recognise the day as an official UN observance, and are working with consumer advocacy groups around the [...]
Euroconsumers, a group of five Consumers International members, have launched a declaration calling for consumers to be given greater control over their personal data and greater access to the benefits the data produces. As data rapidly becomes the world’s greatest commodity, the group of consumer organisations want to see consumers playing a key role in [...]
Automated vehicles that do not require human driver input into the driving task for at least part of the journey are expected to arrive on our roads from around 2020. Currently there is no explicit regulation covering these automated driving functions. Manufacturers are aiming to ensure automated driving functionality improves road safety, but this technology [...]
Consumer advocates have responded to the Independent Review into the Future Security of the National Energy Market (Finkel Review), which was handed down last week. Energy Consumers Australia CEO Rosemary Sinclair said the Finkel Panel had developed a framework to address the affordability, system security and emissions reduction challenges we are facing in an orderly, measured and coordinated way. [...]
