Everyday Consumer - 2/72 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

23 August , 2021

Queensland Government funeral price transparency consultation now open

Arranging a funeral can be an emotional process, sometimes with added time pressures if the death of a loved one was unexpected. Funerals involve significant expenditure. It is an infrequent purchase, often during a stressful and emotional time. The decision-making ability of consumers is often considerably impacted by their vulnerable state, time constraints and cultural…

9 August , 2021

Consumers International releases statement on the future of food

To mark this year’s UN Food Systems Summit being held in late September, Consumers International (CI) has prepared a global consumer advocacy statement on the future of food. The statement contains a set of people-centred solutions for the development of healthy, safe, fair, and sustainable food systems. CI is the membership organisation for over 200…

2 August , 2021

Government must go back to the drawing board on new Open Banking rules that undermine Australians’ privacy rights

Financial Rights Legal Centre is calling on the Australian Government to halt the introduction of new rules that will increase privacy and security risks for people when sharing their financial data. This is a Financial Rights Legal Centre media release, originally published on 30th July, 2021. The government should rescind proposals to: allow the transfer…

2 August , 2021

Federal government misses opportunity to help shoppers save at the checkout

The nation’s peak body for consumer organisations, the Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) says shoppers will miss out on big savings possible when buying groceries, and other packaged products, as a result of federal government not improving the current Unit Pricing Code. The Code requires only large supermarkets and some online grocery retailers to provide…

26 July , 2021

Toward a meaningful right to repair

A ‘right to repair’ is the ability of consumers to have their products repaired at a competitive price using a repairer of their choice. A recent CHOICE consumer pulse survey identified that more than eight in ten (85%) people said that buying products that will last a long time is important to them and more…

7 July , 2021

More efficient lighting for consumers

With inefficient halogen lamps proposed to be phased out in Australia from late 2022, consumers will soon be looking for more certainty around performance claims for LED lamps. Lighting accounts for around 10% of electricity usage in households, and 18–40% of in commercial premises. The recently published Australian/NZ standard provides suppliers with a clear guidance on how to…

2 July , 2021

CFA and member organisations call for changes to proposed new federal Unit Pricing Code

CFA has made a submission to the federal government on its draft new Grocery Unit Pricing Industry Code of Conduct. The submission disagrees strongly with the conclusions of the review of the current Code and with the proposed new Code’s provisions (which are identical to those of the current Code). It also argues that implementation…

30 June , 2021

The need of an ‘UN Consumer Global Compact’

Presented at the 2021 UN Trade Forum, Geneva – June 2021 In recognition of the digital economy and the growth of big tech and sharing platforms, a call has been made to ask responsible businesses to voluntarily join a principles-based approach to doing business globally, a new ‘UN Consumer Global Compact’ which seeks to enhance…

23 June , 2021

Draft Report on “Right to Repair” Released for Comment

A draft report by the Productivity Commission on a ‘right to repair’ outlines some measures governments could take to assist consumers to get their products repaired. Written submissions or brief comments must be made by Friday 23 July 2021. The Commission is also holding public hearings using a video and teleconferencing service, with the option…

16 June , 2021

Culturally and linguistically diverse community lose $22 million to scams in 2020, reports from Indigenous Australians up by 25 per cent

Last year scammers stole close to $34 million collectively from people who identified as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), people with disability, and Indigenous Australians. This is an Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) media release, originally published on 10th June, 2021. Figures from the ACCC’s latest Targeting Scams report released earlier this week shows losses to the…

16 June , 2021

Public health and consumer organisations call for food regulatory reform to put the health of Australians and New Zealanders first

CFA has joined with serval public health and consumer organisations in calling for the Australian Government to prioritise the health of Australians and New Zealanders as they consider reforms to redesign the food regulatory system for Australia and New Zealand. The joint statement says the current review of the system: Will set the foundation for…

7 June , 2021

Scammers capitalise on pandemic as Australians lose record $851 million to scams

Australians lost over $851 million to scams in 2020, a record amount, as scammers took advantage of the pandemic to con unsuspecting people, according to the ACCC’s latest Targeting Scams report released today. The report compiles data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, other government agencies and 10 banks and financial intermediaries, and is based on more than 444,000 reports.…