CHOICE - Consumers' Federation of Australia

15 August , 2018

Lobbyists beat the battlers on payday loans and rent-to-buy

The Federal Government is letting the worst and most harmful financial products in the community run wild, according to consumer advocates. It’s now one year, eight months, one week and fifteen days since the Government accepted recommendations to reform laws governing payday loans and consumer leases. Despite committing to bringing the reforms to Parliament by…

18 July , 2018

Cots and strollers consistently failing CHOICE lab tests

CHOICE is calling for urgent reform to Australia’s product safety system as analysis shows children’s products consistently fail CHOICE lab tests for voluntary and mandatory safety standards. “From portable cots that fail suffocation tests to strollers with finger traps, safety failures are so routine it’s clear that manufacturers are not prioritising safety,” says CHOICE Head…

11 July , 2018

Clear sugar labelling on the table

CHOICE welcomes the Federal Government’s options paper on added sugar today which includes options for strong measures for sugar labelling like visual labelling of teaspoons of sugar on sugar-sweetened beverages. “For years CHOICE has been calling for added sugar labelling and it’s great to see the Federal Government putting forward options that will allow Australians…

25 June , 2018

Fair Finance Day of Action

Australia’s leading consumer groups will join forces in Canberra today to call on the Federal Government to strengthen our laws to stop irresponsible, harmful lending practices in our financial services sector. “Irresponsible lending and crippling debt are having a real, devastating impact on Australians, putting people at risk of bankruptcy, homelessness and life-long debt,” says…

9 May , 2018

Welcome Budget boost for Super

Consumer group CHOICE welcomes the Federal Budget measures that will make superannuation insurance opt-in, auto-reunite people with lost accounts and ban exit fees. “Making insurance in super opt-in rather than opt-out for people who are at greatest risk of being fleeced will make a huge difference to the retirement savings of millions of Australians,” says CHOICE…

7 May , 2018

Can I save on energy?

CHOICE is launching canisaveonenergy.com.au to help people tap into hundreds of dollars in electricity savings. “We’ve decided to intervene in the electricity market and cut out the commercial switching sites which are paid by energy companies to sell their products,” says CHOICE Head of Media Tom Godfrey. “Unfortunately, the electricity market has been stitched up by cosy…

11 April , 2018

CHOICE Campaign – Be a unit pricing champion

Consumer group CHOICE have launched a campaign urging consumers to be ‘unit pricing champions’ by crowdsourcing examples of bad unit pricing. What is unit pricing? Unit pricing can be a useful tool to save you money. But it isn’t perfect. Supermarkets try to make it difficult for us, they use small text, don’t display information correctly…

11 April , 2018

Fiona Guthrie AM presents 2018 Ruby Hutchison Memorial Lecture

The following is an edited extract of the 2018 Ruby Hutchison Memorial Lecture, presented by Fiona Guthrie AM, Chief Executive Officer of Financial Counselling Australia. The annual lecture is a CHOICE and ACCC co-project. Queensland’s Courier Mail recently ran a front-page story about payday loans. It told the story of Trina Begg, a single mother of…

3 April , 2018

Consumer Groups call for tougher penalties, ban on broker commissions in submissions to Royal Commission

Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE and NSW Legal Aid today published submissions in response to the first round of hearings before the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Finance Sector on consumer lending and add-on insurance. Consumer Action Law Centre (Consumer Action) argues in its submission that directors of the big banks may…

28 March , 2018

CHOICE says shoppers can save by comparing unit prices

Consumer group CHOICE is calling for unit pricing to be improved following an investigation that found people can save up to $1600 a year by using unit pricing to compare the cost of loose and pre-packed food. “Unit pricing is an important tool which helps shoppers compare and cut back on their grocery spend but the system…

14 March , 2018

Volkswagen emissions con continues

Consumer group CHOICE says it’s time for real world emissions testing to ensure consumers aren’t misled by car makers CHOICE is renewing its call for real world testing of vehicle fuel efficiency following new research that found Volkswagen’s recalled and “fixed” cars are using more fuel and emitting more noxious emissions than allowed under Australian…

2 March , 2018

CHOICE welcomes action on deadly airbags

Consumer group CHOICE says car companies’ ongoing failure to protect the public from unsafe airbags reaffirms the need to tighten Australian Consumer Law. CHOICE has welcomed the compulsory recall of millions of potentially lethal Takata airbags, and is calling on the Federal Government to beef up Australian Consumer Law to make it explicitly clear that…