[box border=”full”]Commonwealth, State, Territory and New Zealand Ministers responsible for fair trading and consumer protection met on 5 July for the biannual meeting of Consumer Affairs Ministers.[/box]
The communiqué from the meeting reveals that they made decisions or considered information on a wide range of issues.
These included agreeing to provide funding for the establishment of a National Travel Services Consumer Research and Advocacy Centre, which several consumer organisations have been campaigning for recently. Around $2.8 million will be provided from monies in the Travel Compensation Fund.
The communiqué also contains information about the following issues:
1. The Australian Consumer Law
- Review of inconsistent legislation
- Complaints data
- Unfair practices
- Unfair terms and small businesses
- Unsolicited sales
- Remedies and penalties
- Synthetic drugs
2. Food labelling
3. Fuel price boards
4. Sharing of repair information in the automotive industry
5. Cooperative Law
6. Charitable fund raising
7. Benchmarks for industry based consumer dispute resolution schemes
For more information, see the communiqué at http://www.consumerlaw.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=caf/meetings/004.htm
Ian Jarratt, Queensland Consumers Association