Consumers are a key stakeholder group in the development of standards by making the product or service more market relevant; enhancing consumer confidence; addressing societal issues; and providing feedback from the point of view of the end user.
Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA) regularly seeks skilled volunteers to represent CFA on Standards Australia Technical Committees, as part of the CFA Standards Project. Their role is to advocate for the consumer interest to be taken into account, and for the standard to include acceptable requirements for consumer protection.
Representatives are strong consumer advocates who are able to consider the consumer perspective at all times and put this perspective across through their participation in the committee process. Sometimes technical or content knowledge is useful, our representatives have a wide variety of backgrounds, including scientists, lawyers, engineers, health experts, compliance experts, community workers and others.
Following induction and training on writing standards, representatives are expected to participate in all meetings of their committee, to participate in out of meeting electronic communication and to develop their standards through negotiation and consensus with the rest of the committee. Committees meet two or three times per year and representatives are reimbursed for their travel expenses. Register your interest.
View CFA Policy on appointing Standards Representatives.
Can you speak up for consumers? brochure
Get involved in consumer representation on Standards Australia Technical Committees.
Current Standards Representatives
Currently CFA has more than 30 active volunteer consumer representatives involved in over 60 standards technical committees. The Standards Australia website contains an up-to-date list of all the technical committees and their membership.
Watch our short video to learn more about what it’s like to volunteer as a CFA representative on Standards Australia Technical Committees.
Watch an interview with a CFA Standards Representative.
Read a profile on a CFA Standards Representative.
CFA regularly seeks skilled volunteers to represent CFA on Standards Australia Technical Committees. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a CFA standards representative, please contact CFA’s Standards Coordinator at standards@consumeraction.org.au and/or register your interest.
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