CFA Member ACCAN has provided its view on Telstra’s proposed structural separation undertaking (SSU) in a submission to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC). Along with much of the industry, we agree with the ACCC that the current SSU is lacking a clear and enforceable commitment to fair treatment of retail competitors. ACCAN supports…
Read More Fair treatment of competitors needed in Telstra separation
The banking industry has recently announced that retailers will be charged (or charged more than in the past) when their customers choose to use EFTPOS rather than cash or a credit card. Media reports have suggested that this may lead to some retailers sur-charging consumers for using EFTPOS. The EFTPOS consortium (mainly banks) argue the…
Read More Would ATM style EFTPOS fees deliver a more efficient payment system?
The Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) protects consumers against loss if a travel agent becomes insolvent. Consumer group submissions have been important in ensuring that the TCF continues to offer statutory protection to Australian consumers. Earlier this year a government discussion paper raised options for the future of the TCF. One option was to wind up…
Read More Consumer groups help ensure continuation of travel compensation fund
The 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee will begin a series of public consultations around Australia as it examines telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of the country. The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today welcomed the beginning of the consultation process and the release of the…
Read More Public consultations begin for 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review
The first meeting of the reformed Consumer Standing Forum was held in Sydney on 14 September 2011. Representatives attended from CFA, Consumer Affairs Victoria, NSW Fair Trading, QLD Office of Fair Trading, ACCC and Standards Australia. It was chaired by John Furbank from the CFA. The purpose of the CSF is to a. raise with…
Read More Of Eggs, Cots and Insurance Claims: Standards AustraliaConsumer Standing Forum
Anna Bligh
Premier Anna Bligh wants insurance companies forced to pay their clients’ full claims if they are not dealt with in a reasonable time. This proposal, which would require Federal legislation, is contained in the Queensland Government’s submission to the federal parliamentary inquiry into the insurance response to natural disasters. “We also want to see insurance…
Read More Queensland Government wants insurers to pay up
New research shows welfare recipients are using payday lenders to meet regular living expenses and are then trapped in a debt spiral, continuously indebted to one or more loan companies for considerable periods according to Caught Short an Interim Report by RMIT University and the University of Queensland and funded by National Australia Bank and…
Read More RMIT & UQ research: Payday loans a debt trap for welfare recipients
As long ago as 2006 CFA member Choice called attention to the huge losses suffered by consumers through fees and administrative costs on lost and multiple superannuation accounts. With input from data from Rice Walker actuaries Choice estimated consumers lost between $1.2 and $2 billion per annum in unnecessary fees and charges At that time…
Read More Welcome action on billion dollar multiple super fund problem
AAP The Federal Government has taken significant steps in recent years to protect consumers from predatory lending practices, such as very high-interest “payday loans”. An unfortunate, though surely unintentional, consequence of lending regulation is that people on low incomes or with poor credit records may find it difficult to secure loans. Under our National Consumer…
Read More Responsible lending doesn’t have to be restrictive
ASIC has released the new ePayments Code which provides a best practice consumer protection regime for electronic payment products. PayPal Australia welcomed the new ePayments Code and has agreed to sign up to the revised code by the end of the transition period which is 20 March 2013. ASIC expects it to be joined by…
Read More New electronic payments code released
A coalition of consumer and financial counselling organisations has launched a new website to ensure the hard truths are heard in the debate about the future of short term high cost loans – www.debttrap.org.au. The new website delivers the confronting facts about payday loans, busts myths currently being spread by payday lenders, and outlines safer…
Read More Consumer groups launch ‘debt trap’ web site
Eleanor Sumner has been the CFA representative on Standards Australia Technical Committee ME-064 Access for People with a Disability for approximately 10 years. Her work as a consumer advocate extends beyond her work with the Consumers Federation of Australia. Eleanor has had a life long commitment to women’s issues. After serving in the Women’s Royal…
Read More Introducing CFA Standards Project representative Eleanor Sumner
