New mandatory industry codes are being developed by the Australian Government to outline the responsibilities of the private sector in relation to scam activity, with a focus on banks, digital communications platforms, and telecommunications providers. A short survey is also available for members of the public who wish to participate in the consultation process and provide information about their experience with scams, rather than provide a written submission.
You can read the Consultation Paper and how to make submissions here. Submissions are due by 29 January 2024.
The National Anti-Scam Centre’s Scamwatch website has a section dedicated to ways to spot and avoid scams, including a list of common red flags to help spot scams and three important anti-scam protective steps.
The Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA) engages with these issues by supporting a representative to the Standards Australia technical committee IT-012 Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection. Standards Australia committees develop standards which are important documents that provide rules, guidelines or characteristics for products, services, and systems that we use every day; CFA representatives ensure the impact on consumers is always a central part of committee considerations.
As a consumer, access to standards can help you become more informed about what to expect from product and service providers. To view a standard free of charge in the Standards Australia Reader Room, find out more via our informative post here.
Find out more about the CFA Standards Project and how you can get involved.