Disability Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

31 October , 2023

Have Your Say: New Advocacy in Ageing and Disability Standard Opens for Public Consultation

People with a disability and older persons are some of the most vulnerable in Australia. They need to have their voice heard on issues that are important to them to protect and promote their rights. For this reason, the requirements established by a new Draft Standard on Ageing and Disability is to provide uniform minimum…

17 October , 2023

Improved Standard a Significant Advancement for Safe Motor Vehicle Travel

Standards Australia has published a world first standard AS 5384 Accessories for seats belts used in motor vehicles which provides quality assurance to consumers who require such additional safety features not provided by standard motor vehicle seatbelts.

19 September , 2023

Accessibility Best Practice Guide

Access to information, goods, and services are fundamental to consumer education, protection, advocacy, and rights. The importance of access and how some people are left out is something that is crucial to discussions about metropolitan areas as compared to rural and remote areas, where access to many goods and services can be limited and potentially…

12 September , 2023

Housing Delayed and Denied: Improving Access to Specialist Disability Accommodation

Specialist Disability Accommodation, or SDA, is a vital piece of infrastructure for may disabled people to navigate their own home and retain independence. However, despite recent improvement spurred on by the advocacy of organisations and individuals, a recent report from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Housing Hub shows there is still great room for improvement in the decisions and delivery of these vital accommodations.

15 August , 2023

Submission to House of Representatives Inquiry calls for improvements to grocery unit pricing

The Queensland Consumers Association’s submission (#56) to a House of Representatives Inquiry says changes are needed to the grocery unit pricing (pricing per unit of measure) system to make it much easier for consumers to compare grocery prices and values.

The submission also strongly supports the Consumers Federation of Australia’s submission to the inquiry which includes support for demand-side initiatives to promote competition and recommendations on unit pricing.

20 June , 2023

Have Your Say on Child Car Restraints

Child safety in the car includes appropriate child car restraints to keep children safe inside cars, find out more on ACCC Product safety which includes recalls of products that do not comply to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) child restraints mandatory standard.

Image 11 April , 2023

Direct Debit for Telcos and Utilities a Problem for Vulnerable Consumers

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), along with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), has found that while direct debit may work for some consumers direct debits automatic system and lack of flexibility created unfair additional costs and financial distress for vulnerable consumers. In a media release (05/04/2023) ACCAN said: A thriving and competitive…

9 November , 2022

Business integrity and legal requirements in the Assistive Technology sector: industry statement

Assistive Technology (AT) users should expect to be able to make informed decisions based on the highest standards of assistive technology provision to meet their AT goals and needs. Industry groups have put out a joint statement to encourage AT product suppliers and advisory service providers to work collaboratively with the user of AT to…

5 September , 2022

ASIC review finds room for improvement remains with life insurance claims handling

ASIC’s review of nearly 4800 individual disability income insurance (IDII) claims received between 1 January and 30 June 2021 has found more work is needed by insurers to ensure that consumers are protected from unfair practices in non-disclosure investigations and physical surveillances. As a result of ASIC’s review, some life insurers have made improvements to…

31 August , 2022

Making Australia’s new homes more liveable

Federal, state and territory building ministers have agreed on a series of sweeping national reforms that will ensure that new homes in Australia will be more comfortable, liveable, accessible and energy efficient. This is a media release from The Hon Ed Husic MP: Minister for Industry and Science. It was originally published on 26th August, 2022. Industry…

8 August , 2022

New report from Blind Citizens Australia on access to banking

Australians who are blind or vision impaired face significant barriers and issues when accessing banking and financial institutions and products in Australia, primarily resulting in complete inaccessibility to these institutions and products. This post is taken from a report by Blind Citizens Australia. It was originally published on 15th July, 2022. In a new report, Blind Citizens…

28 January , 2022

Seat belts for pets?

Australia has one of the highest pet ownership rates in the world, yet when it comes to road safety, there is no national standard on the design, testing (including crash testing) or manufacture of car restraints to keep our pets and vehicle occupants safe. Dogs are the most popular animal companions (40%), followed by cats (27%). According to…