The little known and used Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) quarterly Living Cost Indexes for the December 2023 quarter released recently show that for 4 of the 5 household types the annual cost of living increased by more than the better known and much used Consumer Price Index (CPI). The annual increase in the CPI…
Read More Cost-of-Living Rising Much Faster than the CPI for Many Households
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“Over the past three years, average health insurance premiums across all levels went up by 8.6%, according to government data. However, our analysis found that the cost of top-level Gold hospital policies has increased by over 30% on average,” says CHOICE health insurance expert, Jodi Bird.
Read More Health Insurers are Increasing their Top-Level Policy Prices by over 30%
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The results of recent research on grocery unit pricing (pricing per standardised unit of measurement) in the United Kingdom have been released by Competition and Markets Authority. The research involved: The Queensland Consumers Association says that many of the results are very relevant to grocery unit pricing in Australia including that: The CMA’s conclusions from…
Read More Results of UK Research on Grocery Unit Pricing Released
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New research released by ASIC’s Moneysmart has shed light on the financial concerns of Australian Gen Z women, revealing that they are more likely than Gen Z men to feel stressed and overwhelmed by finances and money.
“These findings demonstrate the importance of empowering young women to move past girl math and take control of their finances. Countless studies have shown financially literate people are better at budgeting and saving, managing mortgages and debt, planning for retirement, and growing their wealth. These behaviours aren’t inherent – they can be learnt at any age. That’s why we need to change the equation on girl math in 2024,”
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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
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Domestic airfares generally fell last year after reaching record highs in late-2022, but cancellations and delays remain higher than long-term industry averages, the ACCC’s latest Domestic Airline Competition in Australia report reveals.
The report shows that average revenue per passenger, which represents average prices across all fare types, was 13.4 per cent lower in December 2023 than in December 2022, in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.
Read More Airfares Cheaper But Cancellations and Delays Increased in 2023
Fraud Alert
Recent super fund data breaches and increasingly sophisticated super scams demonstrate the urgent need for industry collaboration on a super anti-scam code. Super Consumers Australia today is urging the Federal Government to prioritise the safety of Australians’ 24 million retirement savings accounts by introducing a superannuation industry anti-scam code.
Since 2022, up to 178,000 superannuation members across three super funds have been placed at a heightened risk of phishing scams due to known super fund data breaches.
Read More Advocates Call for New Super Anti-Scam Code
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Following public consultation on ways to improve price transparency and information about products for consumers, the UK government has announced that it will make several changes.
Read More Consumer Price Transparency and Product Information to be Improved in UK
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Romance baiting scams cause significant emotional and financial harm to Australians, with Scamwatch receiving 484 reports of this scam in 2023. Despite overall losses nearly halving in the past year, reports to Scamwatch show that more than $40 million was lost to romance baiting scams in 2023.
Romance baiting scams disproportionately impact people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, with reports to Scamwatch from these communities accounting for more than 30 per cent ($12 million) of total losses last year.
Read More NASC Warns Consumers to Be Aware to Valentine and Romance Baiting Scams
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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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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