AusPol Archives - Page 3 of 12 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

23 May , 2024

Budget Funds $1.5m for Labelling of Plant-Based and Alternative Protein

The 2024 Federal Budget provides $1.5 million over 2 years from 2023-24 for the Government to work with industry and regulatory agencies to improve existing arrangements and, in parallel, undertake independent consumer research to understand the extent of any consumer confusion in relation to plant-based and alternative protein labelling. The Department of Agriculture Fisheries and…

20 May , 2024

New Vehicle Efficiency Standard to Commence January 2025

Australian motorists will soon be able to choose from a wider range of cleaner, cheaper to run cars with the Parliament passing the legislation for the Albanese Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. This is good news for the hip pocket and for the environment. Car makers now have an incentive to send us their most…

15 May , 2024

Senate Supermarket Inquiry Recommends Grocery Price Transparency

The 14 recommendations of a Senate Select Committee inquiry into supermarket prices included several aimed at increasing the transparency of retail grocery prices for consumers. These recommendations included (in Recommendation 9 ) that: The Australian Government amend the Unit Pricing Code made under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, so that supermarkets are required to:…

22 April , 2024

Advocates Call For Supermarket Inquiries to Recommend Clearer Pricing

The Queensland Consumers Association (QCA) is calling for the inquiries into supermarkets now being undertaken by a Senate Select Committee, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and a Queensland Parliament Select Committee to recommend improvements to the clarity of supermarket pricing. In submissions to each inquiry, the QCA says improvements are essential in order…

22 April , 2024

Financial Counselling Industry Fund Launches

More Australians will now have access to support from financial counsellors with the launch of the Financial Counselling Industry Fund (FCIF). The FCIF is the result of a collaboration between the financial counselling sector and a number of industries and companies – Australian Banking Association member banks, Australian Energy Council, Energy Networks Australia, Insurance Council…

5 April , 2024

Submission Call for National Competition Policy

The Productivity Commission is undertaking a study to assess the economic effects of national competition reforms. It is now inviting community members to share perspectives, experiences and expertise on national competition matters and modelling competition reforms. The Commission’s review is occurring against a backdrop of declining productivity growth in the past decade. As such, a…

5 April , 2024

CWES Statement on the Inquiry into Financial Abuse by the Parliamentary Joint Committee

The Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES) welcomes the establishment of aParliamentary Inquiry into the effectiveness of financial services regulation in addressing financialabuse.The move follows calls by CWES for regulatory change so the financial sector can better respond tofinancial abuse and design safer financial products.More than 85% of women experiencing domestic and family violence experience…

3 April , 2024

It’s time to give Australian courts the power to break up big firms that behave badly

Australian authorities have never had the power to break up big businesses that behave badly. It’s a power available to courts in the United States and elsewhere, but not here – at least not unless the Greens succeed with a bill now before the Senate. The so-called Competition and Consumer Amendment (Divestiture Powers) Bill would…

28 March , 2024

Consultation Opens as Parliament Passes Designated Complaints Measure

Yesterday the Parliament passed the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Fair Go for Consumers and Small Business) Bill 2024. This reform, which forms part of the Albanese Government’s Better Competition election commitment, establishes a designated complaints function within the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) from July 2024. Today the Albanese Government releases the draft designated…

25 March , 2024

Inquiry into Wholesale Investor and Wholesale Client Tests

On 20 March 2023, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services commenced an inquiry into the wholesale investor test for offers of securities (Section 708 of Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act 2001) and the wholesale client test for financial products and services (Sections 761G & 761GA of Chapter 7 of the Act) (referred…

21 March , 2024

Queensland Inquiry into Supermarket Pricing Open

Submissions are open for an inquiry being undertaken by the Supermarket Pricing Select Committee which was established by the Queensland Parliament on 7 March 2024. Information about the committee can be accessed here.

The committee is calling for submissions to the Inquiry into Supermarket Pricing by 10am on Tuesday, 2 April 2024. Information about how to make a submission to the inquiry and planned public proceedings is provided below.

20 March , 2024

Industry Working Group Welcomed by Consumers as Deadline for the 3G Network Approaches

“Industry should be providing consumers with clear information about which devices will and won’t work with Triple Zero and can be relied on to access emergency services. The working group and the major telcos must clearly communicate to consumers how they can identify if their device will work after the 3G shutdown, or whether they need to upgrade their device.”