Everyday Consumer - 3/76 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

28 March , 2022

Breath alcohol electronic testing devices for personal use – draft open for public comment

Driving while under the influence of alcohol affects perception, vision, concentration, reaction time and causes drowsiness – all of which increase the chances of having an accident. Consequences of drink driving include severe penalties, trauma, and death. Breath alcohol testing devices for personal use should be able to perform in a manner that allows the user to make…

25 March , 2022

Mandatory grocery unit pricing coming to India and New Zealand

The latest edition of the Queensland Consumers Association’s (QCA) newsletter Unit Pricing Global Update reports that: India will require display of the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) per standardised unit of measure (i.e. the unit price) on pre-packaged commodities sold by retailers after 31 March 2022. Currently only the MRP has to be displayed. In New…

18 March , 2022

National Consumer Unit Price Education Campaign

A national media campaign is running from 7 March until 1 April to increase consumer awareness and understanding of grocery unit pricing and how it can help them save money. The campaign is being run by Australia’s consumer protection regulators. There was also a successful campaign in 2020. The social media material changes weekly and…

15 March , 2022

New digital platform rules crucial next step in consumer law reform

The development of new upfront rules that force dominant digital platforms to treat their users fairly is the important next step in reforming Australia’s consumer protection laws, ACCC Chair Rod Sims said today. This is a media release from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). It was originally published on 15th March, 2022. Delivering the 2022 Ruby…

15 March , 2022

Super Consumers Australia launches consultation on retirement savings targets

The research released for consultation today is designed to help Australians answer one of the most important financial questions they face, “how much do I need to save for retirement?” “Our goal is to develop trustworthy retirement targets that give people a solid ‘rule of thumb’ on what they’ll need to save to maintain their…

14 March , 2022

Consumer Policy Agenda 2022 launched ahead of Federal Election

The Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA) has launched its Consumer Policy Agenda 2022. CFA is calling for new consumer policy reforms to be urgently implemented to put consumers in the economy recovery. Competition in key markets is flailing, consumer protections are falling behind best practice, and our institutional arrangements for consumer protection are not supporting…

11 March , 2022

Confusing insurance definitions for extreme weather events must be standardised

Australians who face devastating property losses following natural disasters such as the recent floods confront further hardship when trying to claim on their insurance because of confusing terms and conditions and fine print limitations in their policies. This is a media release from Financial Rights Legal Centre. It was originally published on 10th March, 2022. A new report…

14 February , 2022

Learn how to spot a romance scammer this Valentine’s Day

Scamwatch is urging people to watch out for dating and romance scams after Australians reported losing a record $56 million last year, an increase of 44 per cent. This is a media release from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). It was originally published on 14th February, 2022. Over 3,400 reports were received about dating and romance…

10 February , 2022

New research finds Tinder Plus price discrimination is a worldwide issue: CHOICE releases open “love letter” asking Tinder Australia to stop unethical data use

Following CHOICE’s 2020 investigation into Tinder’s discriminatory pricing practices in Australia, new research by Consumers International and the Mozilla Foundation has found that Tinder Plus users in several other countries are being unknowingly charged more based on their personal information. This is a media release from CHOICE. It was originally published on 9th February, 2022. The research found that Tinder…

8 February , 2022

An interview with Paul Loney: representing consumer interests in standards development for 18 years

A conversation with CFA Standards Representative Paul Loney about his participation in standards development, what his work looks like today and what keeps him excited to represent consumers. How long have you worked in standards development and can you tell me about some changes you’ve seen in that time? I’ve been representing consumers in standards…

31 January , 2022

Average Australian must consent to 467,000 words worth of privacy policies: CHOICE calls for Privacy Act reform to make businesses responsible for using data safely and fairly

Consumer advocacy group CHOICE is marking Data Protection Day with results from a new survey, which has found Australians must typically consent to an average of 116 privacy policies at any one time, amounting to a hefty 467,000 words. This is a media release from CHOICE. It was originally published on 28th January, 2022 “It’s completely unacceptable that…

27 January , 2022

More power to compare and switch telco providers and share finance data

The Morrison Government is giving consumers more power to lower their internet and phone bills by expanding the Consumer Data Right to the telecommunications sector. This is a joint media release from The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP: Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia & The Hon Paul Fletcher MP: Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts &…