HOME SAFETY
Accidental swallowing of a button or coin battery, by a pet or child, can result in severe injury or death, especially when the battery becomes lodged in the oesophagus. Standards Australia has launched a new free Consumer Reference Guide on Button Batteries to improve public access to the latest expert consumer advice aimed at preventing common…
Read More New consumer safety guide – Button Batteries
Here to Help
The Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA) is inviting suitable applicants to apply for the role of consumer representative on the Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee (COBCCC). Details of the purpose and conditions of the role, including renumeration, are as follows: Purpose of the COBCCC Purpose of the Consumer Representative A Consumer Representative to the…
Read More Call for Expressions of Interest for new COBCCC Consumer Representative
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Home internet and mobile connectivity are now considered essential by the vast majority of Australians. Price is the number one factor when choosing a plan, yet few people are actively checking the market for a better deal. These are some of the key insights from the new Consumer Sentiment Tracker, commissioned by the peak communications…
Read More Most Consumers Consider Communications an Essential Service
Black computer screen reading 'security' in blue with cursor hovering over word
The Metaverse, an innovative complex virtual environment that’s emerging as the next online frontier, is fraught with risks to children including online bullying, grooming, and identity theft. The new landmark Australian standard AS 5402:2025 Children’s Safety in the Metaverse provides a framework for advancing children’s safety in the Metaverse with a focus on privacy and accessibility.…
Read More Landmark Standard to Empower and Protect Children in the Metaverse
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Australia’s peak communications consumer body, ACCAN, has welcomed news that Optus will pay one of the largest consumer law penalties in Australian history – a $100 million fine, subject to court approval, for unconscionable conduct. ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said, “Unconscionable conduct is a high bar and one that Optus has spectacularly surpassed in its behaviour…
Read More Optus Admits to Unconscionable Conduct, Advocates Welcome ACCC Action but Highlight Need for Strong Telco Regulation
Bronze Justice statue
Consumer Action Law Centre CEO, Stephanie Tonkin says she is thrilled by the decision of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to launch a detailed review into the national impact and harms of unsolicited selling, consultation which opens today. “This decision by our national, economy-wide regulator shows the dynamic power of the ‘designated complaint’ super-complaint…
Read More Advocates Welcome ACCC Review into Unsolicited Selling
Law Cases
Online services platform Mable Technologies Pty Ltd (Mable) has admitted to breaching the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) by using unfair contract terms when connecting people seeking care support to independent support workers. Support services facilitated through Mable include social support, domestic support, nursing services and allied health services. Clients using the platform include participants on…
Read More Mable admits unfair contract terms a breach of consumer law
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Vulnerability can affect anyone at any time particularly if the consumer is faced with an unexpected change of circumstance or a particularly urgent or complex situation and information is not transparent and accessible. Standards Australia has released a new draft standard which specifies requirements and guidelines for organizations on how to design and deliver fair,…
Read More Consumer vulnerability – New standard open for public comment
Webinar
MADE TO MANIPULATE
3 June 2025
The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) will be hosting a webinar on June 3rd at 4:30pm to 5:30pm AEST, to register for the event follow the directions here. From CPRC’s Events page: Is your online “freedom of choice” just an illusion? Every day, websites and apps deploy sophisticated design traps that manipulate your decisions without…
Read More Webinar: Made to Manipulate – A Global Tour of Dark Patterns
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Australian fast-food franchise Hungry Jack’s Pty Ltd has paid penalties totalling $150,240 after the ACCC issued it with eight infringement notices for alleged breaches of the Australian Consumer Law by failing to comply with the mandatory button battery information standard. The infringement notices relate to a Garfield toy powered by button batteries that was supplied…
Read More Infringement notices issued for button battery information standard breaches
HOME SAFETY
Furniture suppliers are now required to provide safety warnings to consumers about the dangers of toppling furniture after the mandatory information standard for toppling furniture came into effect on 4 May 2025. Since the year 2000 at least 28 people, including 17 children under five, have died in Australia from toppling furniture and televisions. Each year more…
Read More Mandatory information standard for toppling furniture now in affect
Salespeople
Do Not
Knock
Leave these premises immediately
Consumer Action Law Centre is calling for a nationwide ban on unsolicited selling in the first ever designated ‘super’ complaint presented to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). A designated complaint is a new power that allows complainants to raise an issue with the ACCC, which the ACCC is required to consider and come back with…
Read More Unsolicited door-to-door sales the target of Australia’s first Designated Complaint
