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“[1]t’s critical that consumer groups are resourced to genuinely engage with NBN and industry on these critical matters that impact our daily lives. Living up to this promise is key to driving greater value for consumers and NBN over the life of the SAU”.
Read More New NBN Regulations “places consumers at the heart”
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The ABA Consumer Outcomes Group is a joint bank and consumer representative forum for discussing and responding to existing and emerging issues to improve consumer outcomes in retail banking.
Read More Consumer representative opportunity: Australian Banking Association (ABA) Consumer Outcome Group
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“If lotteries get this carve-out and people can use credit cards, it will be the thin edge of the wedge. They will then get carve-outs from future advertising and inducement reforms. We’ll regret this mistake when lotteries are advertised day and night and people increasingly spend large sums of money.”
Ms Levin said lotteries were no longer harmless fun as portrayed by providers. They were now also a far cry from the benign, government-owned public sweeps that we remember from childhood, and which had legislation that mandated donating money to charitable causes.
Read More ‘Not harmless fun’ – Advocates Call for Credit Card Ban to Extend to Scratchies and Lottery Tickets
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The Life Insurance Code Compliance Committee (Life CCC) prioritised supporting a smooth transition to the new Code of Practice in 2022-23, according to its Annual Report.
The Annual Report 2022-23, published today, noted how the work of the Life CCC helped life insurers to proceed with clarity in aligning systems, processes and practices to new obligations in the Code.
The new obligations and additional consumer protections came into effect on 1 July 2023.
Read More Life Insurance Code Compliance Committee Releases First Annual Report Under the New Code of Practice
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Despite some continued questions from the Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) and consumer groups about the lack of reported breaches, an article on the matter can be found here, the latest BCCC Annual Report does showcase some major improvements that BCCC has made over the last financial year.
Read More Major Improvements Highlighted in BCCC Annual Report
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“If systems have let customers down, we expect all financial institutions, especially our banks, to act quickly to reduce consumer harm,”
Read More NAB’s Conduct Ruled Unconscionable – Maximum $2.1 Million Penalty Applied
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Single parents who want to cover their children on their policy will be slugged with an increase of up to 60–70% in many cases. Sometimes they’ll even pay twice as much.
Read More Single Parents Unfairly Priced Out of Health Insurance
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The Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee (COBCCC) has recently released its Annual Report for 2022-23 (available here). There was positive news in terms of the preparedness of customer-owned banks to adopt the new 2022 Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice (the Code) which has been characterised as clearer and stronger in its commitments, especially…
Read More Improvements for Consumers But Concerns Linger Over Reporting Practices
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“Natural disasters can be one of the most complex issues to navigate when it comes to insurance,” says CHOICE insurance expert Jodi Bird.
“There are some simple things you can do right now to make things easier should you become affected by a bushfire and need to make a claim.”
Read More Preparing for a Bushfire Insurance Claim
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Research conducted by CHOICE in 2022 found many Australians aren’t aware of what insurance they have through their super. Only 54% of respondents knew how much they paid for insurance, and just 51% knew what situations their super insurance covered.
Read More Calls for Independent Inquiry into Super Insurance Gaps
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ASIC alleges that for almost ten years, AustralianSuper failed to have adequate policies and procedures to identify members who held multiple AustralianSuper accounts and to merge those accounts, where merger was in the member’s best interests.
Read More AustralianSuper Sued Over Multiple Superannuation Accounts
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“This legislation is terrific,” Ms Levin said. “We’re delighted that it covers not only credit cards, but also digital wallets and digital currencies.”
Ms Levin said the one area of disappointment was a carve-out for online lotteries.
