Consumers' Federation of Australia

6 September , 2023

ACCC Opens Submissions on Australia Post’s Proposed Price Increases

Australia Post is proposing to increase its stamp prices by 25 per cent from January 2024.

This change would increase the price of delivering reserved ordinary small letters from $1.20 to $1.50, ordinary large letters up to 125 grams from $2.40 to $3.00 and ordinary large letters between 125 grams and 250 grams from $3.60 to $4.50.

Australia Post is not proposing to increase the price of concession stamps (60 cents each) or stamps for seasonal greeting cards (65 cents).

6 September , 2023

ASIC ‘takes aim’ at Over-the-Counter Derivate Distribution and Other High Risk Products

Since March 2023, ASIC has taken regulatory action against five issuers of retail OTC derivative products for breaches of DDO. This has resulted in 10 interim stop orders relating to retail OTC derivatives, with further DDO-related investigations of high-risk product issuers underway. ASIC recently commenced its first design and distribution proceedings in the Federal Court against a CFD issuer (23-204MR) and will continue to take appropriate regulatory action where it sees DDO contraventions and risk of consumer harm.

4 September , 2023

IBCCC Sees Improvement but Serious Concerns Remain Over Underreporting of Breaches

In its Annual Report, the Insurance Brokers Code Compliance Committee (IBCCC) welcomed an increase in the number of brokers that reported breaches and complaints, but had concerns that too many continue to report zero breaches or complaints.

4 September , 2023

Competition Taskforce Established as Treasury Stresses Importance of Competition to the Economy

On the 23rd of August, Treasury announced the creation of the Competition Taskforce as part of the 2 year long Competition Policy Review. The purpose of the Review and its Taskforce is to examine the current competition laws, policies and institutions, and determine reforms in those areas to further boost productivity.

1 September , 2023

Consumer Groups Advocate for Change as Consultations Open on Unfair Trading Practices

Almost a year after state and territory consumer ministers agreed to open consultation on options to address the gap in Australian Consumer Law (ACL) around unfair trading practices, Treasury has released a Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (CRIS) and given stakeholders 91 days to respond starting 31st August and ending 29th November 2023.

30 August , 2023

ASIC Open Letter to Lenders: “Ensuring that lenders support consumers experiencing financial hardship is a priority for ASIC”

https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2023-releases/23-235mr-as-cost-of-living-pressures-persist-asic-calls-on-lenders-to-support-customers-in-financial-hardship/

29 August , 2023

Great Spring Clean September 2023

Clean up Australia inspires and empowers communities to clean up, and to fix up and conserve our environment; the annual Great Spring Clean is another chance for Aussies everywhere to get out and clean up our local environments and improve public places throughout September. Get out there and take practical action before the heat of summer hits, find out how to get involved and if your Council is supporting the clean up here.

29 August , 2023

ASIC’s Corporate Plan: Focus on Protecting Vulnerable Consumers and Small Businesses in 23-24

ASIC will take further enforcement action to protect Australian consumers and small businesses in an environment where scams, digitally-enabled misconduct and predatory lending practices are increasingly prevalent.

‘We are responding to key trends and emerging issues in the regulatory landscape, where there are major shifts across sustainable finance, the digital and data economy, and an ageing population.’

‘We are also closely monitoring the development and use of artificial intelligence and what this means for the businesses and markets we regulate and exploring potential uses of this and other technologies within ASIC,’ Mr Longo said.

29 August , 2023

FCA Welcomes BetStop, Calls for Register to Extend Further

Financial Counselling Australia (FCA) has welcomed the start of Australia’s first online gambling exclusion register, while at the same time calling on governments to expand the facility to casinos, pokies and lotteries.
“We started advocating for this in 2015 and didn’t give up, because we always knew that an online gambling self-exclusion register would help a lot of people,” Ms Levin said.

“Now we call on the state premiers to make BetStop a national register for all forms of gambling, including casinos, pokies, and lotteries. It’s not rocket science to simply give people the protection that they are asking for.”

28 August , 2023

Three New Commissioners Welcomed to ASIC

The Treasurer has announced the appointment of Ms Katherine O’Rourke, currently a First Assistant Secretary at Treasury, as Commissioner from 11 September 2023. Mr Alan Kirkland, who is currently the CEO of leading consumer group CHOICE, and Ms Simone Constant, who is currently the Chief Risk Officer, Institutional Bank and Markets at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, will commence their terms on 20 November 2023.

25 August , 2023

Join CPRC and CFA for a Briefing by Lauren Levin on the EU and UK Approach to Gambling Harm Prevention

As part of Churchill Fellowship Award, Lauren spent eight weeks across eight countries in Europe and UK, meeting with gambling regulators, banks, Financial Ombudsman Services, academics, others in the gambling harm prevention ecosystem and attended an international gambling industry convention to gain insight into what the gambling industry is doing and anticipating. In this special webinar,…

24 August , 2023

ASIC: Insurers Can and Should Improve Claims Handling

Deputy Chair Karen Chester said, ‘An insurance claim doesn’t have to be handled perfectly, but it must be handled well. Our claims handling review found good practices and poor practices across all six insurers. We identified five areas where insurers can and should make immediate claims handling improvements – consumer communications, project management, identifying vulnerable consumers and complaints, resourcing of claims and complaints handling’.