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As part of its Better Competition election commitment, the Albanese Government is introducing legislation to establish a new designated complaints function within the ACCC.
Read More Designated Complaints Legislation Announced to Improve Competition
#SaveSorryBusiness
First Nations financial counsellors, advocates and policyholders from the Save Sorry Business Coalition have welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of an ‘enduring resolution’ for over 13,000 people harmed by Youpla and regulatory failures.
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has briefed advocates that the government scheme will include people who were still making payments to ACBF/Youpla on or after 1 August 2015.
Read More First Nations Advocates Welcome Federal Government’s ‘enduring resolution’ for Youpla Policyholders
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A lack of transparent pricing information caused a poor understanding by consumers of how prices were set. This was significantly worsened by a lack of competition. While market concentration was a major issue, the inquiry found prices in Australia are way higher than in many other less competitive markets.
Large price increases occurred across many sectors.
Read More Supermarkets, airlines and power companies are charging ‘exploitative’ prices despite reaping record profits
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Across Australia, 13 incidents of property damage have been linked to the affected batteries, including a house in Victoria that was destroyed.
Following a recommendation by the ACCC, the proposed recall notice was issued by the Assistant Treasurer because it appears to him that LG has not taken satisfactory action to prevent the affected batteries causing injury to any person.
Read More Compulsory Recall for Dangerous LG Solar Batteries Proposed
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A coalition of advocacy groups, including Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, have come out forcefully stating that customer reimbursement, paid for by industry through a customer’s own bank, must be at the centre of the Federal Government’s proposed new scam laws. The advocates say the new laws must be urgently implemented by the end of this year to stop the billions of dollars that are being lost by Australians every year to scammers.
Read More Industry Liability the Clear Path to Scam Reform
TIME for CHANGE
[T]he research commissioned by the Competition Review Taskforce now provides clear evidence in support of merger reform, strengthening the ACCC’s confidence in its recommendations.
The research demonstrates that an estimated 1000-1500 mergers occur in Australia each year. Only about 330 are notified to the ACCC under the existing voluntary merger regime.
About half of the 1000-1500 mergers are made by the largest one per cent of businesses.
Read More ACCC: Urgent Need for Merger Law Reform
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The Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) and CHOICE have provided a submission to the newly newly established Competition Taskforce on merger approvals. Australia has many markets that are highly concentrated; supermarkets, airlines, banking, telecommunications, energy and insurance are all markets where a few dominant companies provide most Australians with essential products and services. Increasingly, we…
Read More CFA Supports Reforms to Merger Approvals
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The Albanese Government has announced its intent to have the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) conduct a year-long inquiry into supermarket prices as allegations of price gouging, a lack of competition in the sector and the cost of living crisis continue. According to a joint press release by the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese MP,…
Read More Government Announces ACCC Inquiry into Supermarket Prices
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In February 2023, health ministers announced they would take action to ensure the management of professional misconduct by health practitioners relating to sexual misconduct and sexual boundary violations would better meet community expectations.
Health ministers are seeking feedback to determine if amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law are needed to provide greater transparency to the public about health practitioners’ regulatory history when they have engaged in sexual misconduct or sexual boundary violations.
Read More Proposed Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Reforms
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The Australian Government is taking action to help ensure that AI is safe and responsible, releasing its interim response to the Safe and Responsible AI in Australia consultation today.
The consultation made clear that while AI has immense potential to improve wellbeing and grow our economy, Australians want stronger protections in place to help manage the risks.
The Government’s response is targeted towards the use of AI in high-risk settings, where harms could be difficult to reverse, while ensuring that the vast majority of low risk AI use continues to flourish largely unimpeded.
Read More Government Considers “mandatory guardrails” for AI Development
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Original news article by Standards Australia (20/12/2023). A soon-to-be-released Standards Australia publication supporting the responsible expansion of AI has been showcased at an international event. Aurelie Jacquet, Chair of Australia’s AI standards committee, and Roland Terry-Lloyd, Head of Engagement & Strategic Delivery, represented Standards Australia at the recent 2023 Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit in…
Read More Standards and Artificial Intelligence in the APEC Region
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In the 2023–24 Budget, the Government announced funding to support a consumer advocate in the superannuation sector. This means that consumers will have an independent voice advocating for better outcomes on their behalf to Government and industry.
Super Consumers Australia has been chosen as the successful recipient of this funding, following an open and competitive grant process. Super Consumers Australia will promote the interests of members by representing members in policy development and supporting better member understanding of the superannuation system.
Read More Strong Consumer Voice for Superannuation Sector Announced
