Everyday Consumer

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The Productivity Commission (PC) has identified 15 priority reform areas for further exploration under the five productivity inquiries commissioned by the Government. The PC is seeking input on these reform areas to inform the draft recommendations in our interim reports. “Boosting productivity is the only sustainable way to improve Australians’ living standards, but productivity growth…

Read More Productivity Commission Opens 5 Key Inquiries

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Australia’s peak communications consumer body, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network – ACCAN, is calling on the major parties to commit to a concessional internet product delivered by NBN Co to provide a cost-of-living boost to low-income Australians this Federal election. This follows a new ACCAN report undertaken by Essential Research which shows significant popular…

Read More “No Australian Left Offline”, report finds strong support for concessional internet

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Going all-electric is a huge benefit to consumers, particularly in terms of cost and emissions savings. It tends to better utilise the electricity network, so the fully electric household (with an electric car) puts downward pressure on electricity prices for its neighbours. But the transition to all-electric homes and businesses needs to be delivered in a way…

Read More Transition away from gas must benefit all consumers

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The National Anti-Scam Centre has seen a significant rise in financial criminals targeting Australians in phishing scams that scare people to believe that their bank accounts or cryptocurrency wallets have been hacked or compromised. These scams use a sense of urgency and fear to make people act quickly and use phrases such as ‘account compromised’,…

Read More National Anti-Scam Centre warns that criminal ‘account compromised’ scams are on the rise

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The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) and Monash University recently partnered together on a new report ‘Playing the Player: Unfair digital gaming practices and their impact on Australians‘. Below is the introduction and 9 key recommendations of the report. To download a copy of the full report, or to see a summary of the key…

Read More Playing the Player – new report shines a light on dark gaming patterns

Consumers' Federation of Australia

From the supermarket shelf to your electricity bill, competition shapes the choices we have and the prices we pay. When markets are competitive, businesses are pushed to offer better services, lower prices, and more innovation. But when competition is weak or distorted, consumers lose — paying more for less, and having fewer choices.  That’s why…

Read More Why Competitive Markets Matter for All Australians

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The ACCC has released a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation with conditions to allow the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) and industry participants to collaborate on sustainable finance initiatives for five years. ASFI is seeking authorisation for itself, ASFI members and other industry participants to exchange information to improve the integration of natural capital…

Read More ACCC’s draft authorises collaboration on sustainable finance initiatives

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The ACCC has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from apparel business Hard Rock Enterprises Pty Ltd in which it admitted to engaging in resale price maintenance and making false or misleading representations about consumers’ rights to return faulty or incorrect products. Hard Rock is an Australian business which sells blank apparel to retailers on a wholesale…

Read More Apparel business admits to illegal activity

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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

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The Queensland Consumers Association (QCA) has welcomed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) recognition of the need to greatly improve the national grocery unit pricing system in the final report of its supermarket inquiry released today. Unit pricing, (the price per unit of measure – for example $1.41 per 100g for a 765g packet…

Read More Advocates welcome ACCC Supermarket Inquiry unit pricing recommendations

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Preliminary research commissioned by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) raises alarm bells for policymakers and regulators. Findings point to widespread consumer harm and deep mistrust in the telecommunications industry. The polling, conducted as part of the first tranche of ACCAN’s consumer sentiment research, highlights troubling experiences of telco behaviour and unmet expectations. “Given…

Read More Research highlights consumer distrust in broken telco system