Below is the Consumer Action news release regarding the response of consumer advocacy groups (including the Consumers’ Federation of Australia) to the Consultation on the Designated Complaints determination. To see the original article or the letter please see the Consumer Action article here (https://consumeraction.org.au/consultation-designated-complaints-determination/).
With our [Consumer Action Law Centre’s] undersigned sector colleagues, we affirm our previous support for the designated complaints function, and our previous comments about the design and structure of the legislation in our joint submissions to Treasury and the Senate Legislative Committee.
The designated complaints regime provides the potential for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to address systemic and emerging harms including those that may not fit neatly into a case study or set of existing regulations for the ACCC to investigate and take action.
Complaints can be investigated quickly and effectively, as informed directly by consumer advocates close to the potential harms. These are the gaps in protections that we understood the regime is trying
to bridge.
Our major concern is about the determination’s prescribed limit of just three designated complainants. When combined with other limitations in the determination this will have a serious impact on the function and outcomes of the designated complaints regime.
Read more about our concerns with just three designated complainants (PDF).