Earlier in 2016, the Productivity Commission announced its study on consumer law enforcement and administration.
The study seeks to focus on the efficacy of the single law, multiple regulator model which provides the foundation for Australian Consumer Law.
The Productivity Commission was seeking commentary and submissions on the existing model to publish within their Issues Paper. Just this week, the Consumers Federation Australia published their submission to the Productivity Commission on the current Australian Consumer Law Framework. The paper is available here: CFA Submission on ACL Review.
CFA in its submission has provided detailed critique on the current regulator model as well as detailing key areas that can see improvement for the future. These areas include:
- Improving and evaluating the performance of the regulators
- Empowering consumers through access to data held by the regulators
- Enforcing the law – the role of consumer organisations
- Cooperation between regulators and consumer organisation
Whilst CFA believes that the current ACL model is well enforced, identifying the above key areas and dedicating efforts to them can see a greater long-term improvement within the law enforcement sector.
The first draft of the report is to be published in November 2016, with the final report being published in March 2017. Participants will have the chance to read drafts and provide input.