A nursing chair and a baby's cot in a nursery
An analysis of CHOICE test data has found key products designed for children still pose a risk as doctors, industry, experts and parents converged on Canberra on Wednesday to demand action. The data shows: Portable cots (60 tested from 2011–2018*): 98% or 59 failed. Strollers (163 tested from 2012–2019): 83% or 136 failed. Cots (173…
Read More Parents demand Canberra act on unsafe products
Tap water is one of our most important and basic necessities. Most Australians don’t have to worry about getting sick from the water they’re supplied with. The downside of ensuring safe drinking water is the lingering taste and smell of disinfectant, causing many people to opt for a water filtering system (read more here). Water treatment…
Read More Standard on drinking water treatment units open for public comment
Euro bank notes
Australian consumers are paying too much for foreign currency conversion (FX) services because of confusing pricing and a lack of robust competition, a new ACCC report has found. The final report of the ACCC’s Foreign Currency Conversion Services Inquiry highlights important competition and consumer issues affecting individuals and small businesses who use international money transfers (IMTs), foreign…
Read More Australians paying millions too much for foreign currency services
A receipt for grocery items. In the background are grocery items
CFA has written to the federal Minister for Consumer Affairs, Michael Sukkar MP, asking him to release the government’s plans for the regulations that require large supermarkets to provide shoppers with the unit price of pre-packaged grocery products. The current regulations, which commenced on 1 July 2009, will sunset on 1 October 2019 unless renewed…
Read More CFA asks Federal Government to release its plans for unit pricing regulation
Animated computer screen against green background. On the screen is an animated online shopping checkout page
On Friday August 30, Commonwealth, State, Territory and New Zealand Ministers responsible for fair trading and consumer protection met to consider recent and future developments in consumer affairs. The meeting included discussion of consumer guarantees, unfair contract terms, ticket reselling, financial consumer protection and Australia’s product safety framework. Below are the main outcomes of the…
Read More Consumer Affairs Forum meets to discuss consumer protection and fair trading
Web code displayed on a black computer screen
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last month released the final report of its Digital Platforms Inquiry. The report makes 23 recommendations for reform to the competition law, consumer protection practices, privacy law and media regulation that govern digital platforms. The digital platforms covered by the inquiry are search engines, social media platforms and digital…
Read More ACCC recommends greater protection for consumers online
A black calculator next to a hard copy bank statement
Consumers’ Federation of Australia has joined a group of financial experts, community advocates, and service providers determined to see stronger laws implemented to protect Australians from irresponsible lenders. The Alliance’s statement: To the Australian Government: Every day our organisations deal with Australians who have been trapped in crippling debt due to high-cost fast loans and…
Read More CFA joins the Stop the Debt Trap Alliance
A person in a mobility scooter, their back facing the camera
Austroads, the peak organisation of Australian road transport and traffic agencies, has released a Discussion Paper on Motorised Mobility Devices (MMDs). The paper explores establishing a National Registration and Licencing Scheme and Technical Specification for MMDs, also known as powered wheelchairs or mobility scooters. The Austroads Discussion Paper AP-C107-19 makes a number of recommendations and…
Read More Austroads invites responses to Motorised Mobility Devices Discussion Paper
A desk with a laptop and a business newspaper
Consumer advocate CHOICE welcomes ASIC’s announcement today that the regulator proposes to use its new Product Intervention Powers to ban harmful investment products. “Binary options and contracts for difference are glorified gambling dressed up by financial licensees as a safe investment. With over four in five investors losing money from binary options investments, it’s clear…
Read More CHOICE welcomes the proposed ASIC ban on risky investment products
A pile of plastic cups in landfill
It’s a well-known fact that the rise in consumerism and disposable products is choking and exhausting our planet. Before we reach the day where there is more plastic in the sea than fish, something has to be done to ebb the flow. According to the World Economic Forum, moving towards a circular economy is the key, and a ‘trillion-dollar…
Read More Circular economy the key to tackling resource depletion and pollution
Denim jean pocket holding four credit cards
“Stand strong against industry pressure” is the message from CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland following Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s announcement this morning about how the government will implement the Banking Royal Commission recommendations. “Today the Treasurer has outlined how the government will make sure that banks, insurers and mortgage brokers act fairly and provide services that…
Read More CHOICE responds to Treasurer’s Royal Commission road map announcement
A gold watch on a table with button batteries scattered around the watch
The ACCC has established a Button Battery Taskforce to investigate ways to reduce risk to the Australian community, particularly children, of button batteries. In Australia two children have died in the past six years after swallowing a button battery, and hundreds of children suspected of swallowing button batteries have ended up in hospital emergency rooms.…
Read More Taskforce to investigate stronger button battery safety
