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 [...]
John Furbank, the Chair of the ISO/PC 294 recently attended the 3rd meeting on unit pricing. He reports to us below. The 3rd meeting of ISO PC294 Guidance on unit pricing was held at the headquarters of Shufuren (association of consumer groups) Tokyo, Japan in December 2016. Standards Australia is the Secretariat for ISO PC [...]
Consumers Federation Australia is delighted to congratulate Standards Representative and Executive Member Ian Jarratt on being awarded the Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia in the General Division as part of the Australia Day Honours List for 2017. Ian has received the medal for service to the community, particularly to the rights and protection [...]
Elaine Attwood, a CFA representative on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Packing Advisory Group recently attended the 5th meeting this December. The meeting involved discussion around FSANZ’s conclusions following the first Call for Submissions made. Members within the meeting heard on the issues raised within the submissions. Whilst submissions were minimal, the general caliber [...]
CHOICE calls for bigger penalties after court increases Reckitt Benckiser fine. Consumer Group Choice has welcomed the decision to hit Nurofen manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser, with an increased $6 million fine over its dodgy targeted pain relief products, but says the penalty doesn’t go far enough[1]. "These companies make huge profits when peddling these deceptive and [...]
Minh Nguyen, a CFA representative on the Weight Management Council of Australia has provided CFA with an update on their activities. CFA are happy to report that WMCA has two new members including Weight Watchers and Nestle. The independent chair for WMCA has been working to engage with Australian federal government to highlight the role [...]
Car buyers are being advised to exercise caution before agreeing to purchase ‘after sale add-ons’ and to get multiple quotes before accepting any finance offered by motor vehicle dealers. The advice follows a recent increase in complaints to Consumer Protection about the ‘extras’ sold at the point of sale of a vehicle which can include [...]
A group of like-minded advocacy groups have come together to end the data drought by forming the Regional, Rural and Remote Communications Coalition to champion better communications services for consumers and small businesses living in rural, remote or regional areas. The Coalition includes the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), the National Farmers' Federation (NFF), the [...]
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) have collaborated to publish a report on telecommunications affordability. The report, titled Connectivity Costs: Telecommunications Affordability for Low-Income Australia was formed through over 500 surveys with Centrelink recipients and low-income Health Care Card Holders and multiple focus groups. The [...]
CFA has always committed itself to sharing knowledge of forums and conferences that discuss relevant topics on consumer protection, law and other pertinent topics to members and the general public. We are happy to share details of a conference in the area of Law and the Online World, being hosted by the Sir Zelman Cowen [...]
