Consumers' Federation of Australia

30 November , 2023

Riff Raff Penalised Over Alleged False or Misleading Infant Sleep Aid Toys Ads

Online national retailer Riff Raff Baby Pty Ltd has paid penalties of $132,000 after the ACCC issued it with eight infringement notices for allegedly making false or misleading statements about its comforter toys being safe for sleep from birth.

Riff Raff has also provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking in which it admits that the advertisements for its sleep aid toys were likely to have breached the Australian Consumer Law.

“Based on these advertisements by Riff Raff, parents and caregivers may have thought that these products are safe for babies to sleep next to in an unsupervised sleep environment, when in fact there are serious safety risks. These types of products can cover a baby’s nose and mouth, which can pose a risk of fatal suffocation,” ACCC Deputy Chair, Catriona Lowe said.

30 November , 2023

ACCC Continues Focus on Greenwashing Claims

“Making false statements about a product’s environmental or sustainability qualities can mislead consumers, as well as putting the businesses making genuine claims at a competitive disadvantage.”

“It is important that environmental and sustainability claims by businesses are correct as they are a key influence on consumer choices and what people spend their money on,” Ms Carver said.

29 November , 2023

Make Unfair Illegal – Consumer Groups Call for Strong New Laws to Close Gaps as New Research on Consumer Knowledge Emerges

“There are a number of gaps in the consumer law when it comes to protecting people from unfair business practices. These gaps leave consumers in Australia vulnerable to all kinds of unfair treatment,” says CHOICE senior policy and campaigns adviser Alex Söderlund.

CPRC CEO Erin Turner says Australian consumers deserve better.

“Australians are missing out on protections that consumers in other countries have benefited from for decades. We need laws to effectively call out and restrict unfair practices. These laws will mean businesses have to treat you with respect and care.”

29 November , 2023

Consultation Opens on Use of Genetic Testing in Life Insurance

Currently, the Disability Discrimination Act provides an exemption for life insurers to use genomic or genetic test results when underwriting life insurance contracts. Since 2019, an industry-regulated partial-moratorium has been in place that prohibits the use of these tests below certain financial limits.
The government encourages all interested parties to make a submission in response to the consultation paper, which can be found on the Treasury website.

29 November , 2023

A Promising Start as National Anti-Scam Centre Releases its First Report

The NASC launched in July as part of an $86.5 million package to crackdown on scams. It represents the most cohesive partnership between government and industry to date to protect against these criminals.

While scam losses are still significant, the report shows a 16% decrease in losses compared to the same quarter last year. It also reveals that losses from investment scams have declined by 6%, and romance scam losses have declined by 28%.

The quarter ended with reported scam losses of $29.8 million in September 2023, the lowest losses reported in a single month since October 2021.

29 November , 2023

Scams Awareness Week 2023

In the past year, according to figures released by the National Anti Scam Centre (NASC), over 81,000 reports of scams have been made and $92 million stolen. Of those scams, 3 in 4 were impersonation scams where criminals pretended to be someone known and trusted such as a family member, government institution, road toll company or bank. Out of these, bank imitation scams caused the highest monetary losses.

28 November , 2023

Mentoring Program Opens for 2024 Applications

The Consumers’ Federation of Australia is happy to announce that applications for our 2024 Mentoring Program our now open!
The CFA Mentoring Program is designed to improve the effectiveness of consumer advocacy and consumer advocacy leadership with focus on mentoring, governance training and peer workshops. Expressions of Interest close on December 15th 2023.

27 November , 2023

Positions Open on Consumers’ Association of South Australia Committee

Are you interested in consumer issues and looking to broaden your volunteering and work experience? The Consumers Association of South Australia is the South Australian voice for consumers, representing consumer interests, encouraging the distribution of information on issues affecting consumers, and providing opportunity for discussion of some of the following issues:

27 November , 2023

Consumer Affairs Ministers Agree on 2024 Priorities

“It is important that we remain focused on progressing reforms to the Australian Consumer Law to strengthen protections for consumers and small business and improve consumer confidence.”

“The agreed priorities for 2024 build on the important enhancements to consumer protections that have been delivered in 2023, such as strengthening Unfair Contract Term Protections, increasing penalties for breaches of the competition and consumer laws, and establishing the National Anti-Scam Centre.”

27 November , 2023

Seafood Country of Origin Labelling Changes

Previously, the Consumers’ Federation of Australia has campaigned for changes to current labelling laws for seafood at cafes, restaurants and clubs – advocating for country of origin-specific labelling. Recently, the Albanese government has announced that while there will be changes to seafood country of origin labelling, the labelling will be restricted to differentiating between Australia and overseas.

The below press release from Senator the Hon Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Assistant Minister for Trade explains some of the reasoning behind the conversation and the government’s approach.

27 November , 2023

Expansion of Digital Platforms Demonstrates “critical need for regulatory reform”

Digital platforms with significant market power can use practices like bundling or tying of products, pre-installation and default settings to limit customer choice or deter innovation from competitors.
“Australians increasingly use digital platforms for work, study and play and can benefit from their wide range of interconnected products and services. While the size and scale of digital platforms alone does not raise concern, there is a risk that this expansion may be driven by a desire from digital platforms to entrench or extend their market power,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

24 November , 2023

Banking Industry Announces First Big Step in Addressing Scams

Original media release by CALC (24/11/2023). Consumer Action Law Centre has welcomed the scams safe accord announced by the Australian Banking Association (ABA) and Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) which has involved, for the first time, member banks joining forces and agreeing on key steps to enhance scams protections for Australian banking customers. “We are…