Consumers' Federation of Australia

28 March , 2017

120 Day Delay Inflicting Greater Payday Pain

Consumer groups call for the Federal Government to take immediate action to protect payday loan and lease borrowers The Consumers Federation of Australia, CHOICE, Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Counselling Australia, Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Credit Legal Service (WA) and Good Shepherd Microfinance are calling for the Federal Government to immediately introduce legislation to better protect borrowers of toxic loans and leases and increase funding to financial counselling…

28 March , 2017

Making the energy market work for consumers

CFA member Energy Consumers Australia has welcomed the announcement by the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today that the Australian Government will be directing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to review the competitiveness of the retail electricity market. Rosemary Sinclair, Energy Consumers Australia CEO, said the ACCC Inquiry will investigate whether the electricity retail…

25 March , 2017

Victoria considers prohibitions on rent-to-buy homes and residential vendor finance

Consumer Affairs Victoria is asking for feedback to help shape the laws that control how Victorians buy and sell property. A new options paper presents a range of possible reforms to modernise and improve Victoria’s 55-year-old Sale of Land Act 1962 (the Act). “Victoria’s property market is booming, and it’s essential the Sale of Land…

25 March , 2017

ACCC seeks views of BP’s proposed acquisition of Woolworths service stations

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is seeking views on the proposed acquisition of Woolworths Limited’s (Woolworths) network of retail service station sites by BP Australia Pty Ltd (BP). Together with the proposed acquisition, BP proposes to enter into an ongoing retail convenience, shopper docket discount and customer loyalty partnership with Woolworths. The ACCC’s…

25 March , 2017

Standards Australia releases Issues Paper to support APEC’s Silver Economy

Standards Australia has released an Issues Paper titled The Role of Standards and Innovation for Driving APEC’s Silver Economy, providing insights to assist Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies to prepare for the challenges and opportunities created by ageing societies. In 2016, Standards Australia and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, on behalf of…

22 March , 2017

Bush telecoms group tells Canberra it’s time for action

“We hear you and we want to help” was the majority message from politicians in Canberra this week when they met with the Regional, Rural & Remote Communications Coalition. The Coalition met with more than 50 members of parliament over two days with the aim of highlighting the plight of telecommunications in the bush. National…

18 March , 2017

Mortgage broker mayhem

CFA members CHOICE, Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Rights Legal Centre are calling on the federal government to act on conflicted remuneration in the mortgage market following an ASIC report that found widespread conflicts of interest for brokers and bank staff have led to an aggressive sales culture and poor outcomes for borrowers.[1] Quotes…

18 March , 2017 1 comment

Energy Consumers Australia welcomes further action on system security challenges

CFA member Energy Consumers Australia has welcomed the Turnbull Government’s leadership to secure gas supplies through industry initiatives and its plan to increase the generation of the Snowy Hydro scheme by 50 per cent, adding 2000 megawatts of renewable energy to the National Electricity Market and addressing energy security concerns. Rosemary Sinclair, Energy Consumers Australia…

16 March , 2017

Nine Hours of Conditions Apply *

CHOICE says global companies need to stop pushing consumers into signing off on long, unreadable online contracts Consumers’ Federation of Australia member CHOICE is calling on the Federal Government to stop companies from forcing consumers to accept tens-of-thousands of words of complex requirements, just to use a product, after a review of e-reader terms and…

15 March , 2017

Consumers want improvements to online grocery selling sites

Consumers want improvements to online grocery selling sites Online food and grocery sellers in Australia should make it much easier for shoppers to compare the value of items on their websites, says CFA member Queensland Consumers Association. QCA spokesperson, Ian Jarratt, says online grocery sellers can best do this by providing the unit price (price…

7 March , 2017

Multi-billion Dollar Credit Card Rip-Off

CHOICE says consumers have lost $3.49 billion because credit card interest rates haven’t moved in line with the cash rate As the banks front a Parliamentary Inquriy this week to explain their poor practices, new research from CHOICE reveals their failure to pass on the official interest rate cuts to their credit card customers has…

3 March , 2017

Consumers unable to pay high power bills advised to contact their retailer early

The Queensland Consumers Association says householders experiencing difficulty paying high power bills caused by keeping cool during the sweltering summer should contact their power retailer as soon as possible. Association spokesperson, Ian Jarratt, says many power bills received, or those yet to arrive, will be well above normal due to the use of power guzzling…