The International Organization for Standardization (IOS) has published a new standard for Sustainable Procurement - ISO 20400 Sustainable procurement. The standard applies to the purchasing decisions made by organisations when they choose suppliers. It ensures that a company’s suppliers behave ethically, that the products and services purchased are sustainable and capable of meeting organisation and [...]
An exploratory survey of Australian grocery shoppers has shown that almost all reported that they use unit pricing to some degree to make value comparisons between products, and most said they use unit pricing frequently and for several types of value comparisons. The on-line survey of 104 members/supporters of Choice (Australian Consumers Association) was conducted [...]
National Volunteer Week is the largest celebration of volunteers and volunteerism in Australia, and provides an opportunity to highlight the role of volunteers in our community. Consumers’ Federation of Australia thanks the volunteer representatives on the CFA Standards Project for their time and expertise in the development of Australian Standards which makes the world a [...]
The Minister Responsible for Consumer Affairs, The Hon Michael McCormack, last week announced a product safety boost for children's nightwear. The Minister accepted the recommendation of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that the safety standard should be updated. “The most important role I have as Minister Responsible for Consumer Affairs is to ensure [...]
Consumers' Federation of Australia is now seeking nominations for a consumer representative on the Life Code Compliance Committee ('Life CCC').
Consumer Affairs Victoria is asking for feedback to help shape the laws that control how Victorians buy and sell property. A new options paper presents a range of possible reforms to modernise and improve Victoria’s 55-year-old Sale of Land Act 1962 (the Act). “Victoria’s property market is booming, and it’s essential the Sale of Land [...]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is seeking views on the proposed acquisition of Woolworths Limited’s (Woolworths) network of retail service station sites by BP Australia Pty Ltd (BP). Together with the proposed acquisition, BP proposes to enter into an ongoing retail convenience, shopper docket discount and customer loyalty partnership with Woolworths. The ACCC’s [...]
CHOICE says global companies need to stop pushing consumers into signing off on long, unreadable online contracts Consumers' Federation of Australia member CHOICE is calling on the Federal Government to stop companies from forcing consumers to accept tens-of-thousands of words of complex requirements, just to use a product, after a review of e-reader terms and [...]
Consumers want improvements to online grocery selling sites Online food and grocery sellers in Australia should make it much easier for shoppers to compare the value of items on their websites, says CFA member Queensland Consumers Association. QCA spokesperson, Ian Jarratt, says online grocery sellers can best do this by providing the unit price (price [...]
The Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Rod Sims says 2017 will see its enforcement teams hone in on misleading and deceptive practices, anti-competitive conduct and unfair contract terms affecting small businesses. Speaking at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) event in Sydney today, Mr Sims launched the ACCC’s 2017 Compliance [...]
CFA member Energy Consumers Australia has published the results of its second bi-annual 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 during August and September 2016, showed that energy consumers are seeing mixed results. “As we found [...]
The Queensland Consumers Association is calling on energy retailers, politicians and regulators to place the retail market at the centre of thinking about the transformation of the energy system. This is a key conclusion from a national survey* of 2300 consumers just released by Energy Consumers Australia (ECA). The survey revealed that: consumers rank the [...]
