Industry

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Following the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth.), industry associations have been tasked with developing codes of practice to protect Australians from a number of materials online. The draft codes for phase two, covering Classes 1C and 2 materials, have now been released and are available for public comment here. Consultation will be open from October…

Read More Consultation Opens on ‘Phase Two’ of Online Safety Codes

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CHOICE survey of 6000 consumers reveals many businesses are giving consumers the run-around A new survey of 6000 CHOICE supporters has found that almost 3 in 4 (73%) have experienced poor customer service from a business they dealt with in the preceding year, and 85% believed that customer service provided by businesses is getting worse. …

Read More Over 70% of Consumers Experience Poor Customer Service

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The ACCC has issued a draft determination proposing to grant authorisation with conditions to the Australian Banking Association (ABA), its member banks, and other industry participants to facilitate business continuity planning in the cash in transit industry. The ACCC’s draft determination also proposes to allow the parties to implement business continuity measures in the event of, or…

Read More ACCC Issues Draft Determination on Collaboration in Cash-in-transit Industry

Barriers to Effective Resolution in the Telecommunications Industry; Key insights Report Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman; Consumer Policy Research Centre

New research commissioned by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) shows more than 75 percent of Australians have experienced some form of vulnerability in the last 12 months. The research, produced via a partnership between the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) and the TIO unearthed a suite of sobering assessments in relation to the vulnerability of the consumer…

Read More New Research Highlights Sorry State of Consumer Experience and Trust with Telcos

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Financial Counselling Australia welcomes the sanctioning of Westpac for breaching the Banking Code of Practice when it closed its branch in Tennant Creek. The branch was suddenly shut in September 2022 leaving some customers with no access to money. “It was a complete mess and done with no consultation. Some people were unable to buy…

Read More Advocates Welcome Sanctioning of Westpac for Branch Closure

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The ACCC has outlined preliminary competition concerns with Sigma Healthcare Limited’s (ASX: SIG) proposed acquisition of Chemist Warehouse Group Holdings in a Statement of Issues published today. “This is a major structural change for the pharmacy sector, involving the largest pharmacy chain by revenue merging with a key wholesaler to thousands of independent pharmacies that…

Read More Proposed Merger Raises Concerns Over Pharmacy Sector Competition

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New laws regulating Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) have been announced today. Consumer groups respond as follows: Quotes attributable to Stephanie Tonkin, CEO of Consumer Action Law Centre “We welcome the Albanese Government’s new laws that regulate Buy Now, Pay Later as credit and introducing consumer protections. “Every day we speak to people in financial…

Read More Consumer Groups Welcome New Credit Regulations for Buy Now, Pay Later

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Australians are being urged to directly seek financial hardship assistance from their bank or lender, as new nationwide research released by ASIC’s Moneysmart sheds light on the state of financial hardship in Australia. The research found that 47% of Australian adults with debt, the equivalent of 5.8 million people, have struggled to make repayments in…

Read More Research Finds Millions Experience Hardship, Yet Many Don’t Ask for Help

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The ACCC has granted authorisation with conditions to the Australian Banking Association (ABA), the Customer Owned Banking Association, banks, retailers and other industry participants to allow them to continue developing responses to support the distribution of cash across Australia. This follows concerns expressed by the major supplier of cash-in-transit services in Australia, Armaguard, that the…

Read More Bank Industry to Continue Cash Transit Collaboration

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A survey of 280 scam victims by consumer group CHOICE has found they are left carrying the burden of scams after big businesses like telcos, tech platforms and banks fail to step up and protect them. 61% of respondents said they had lost confidence in doing financial transactions online. The survey results, detailed in CHOICE’s…

Read More Passing the Buck: Scam Victims Carrying Unfair Burden

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The industry codes will start with banks, telcos, social media, digital messaging and search advertising services, and will require these groups to have measures in place to prevent, detect, disrupt, respond and report scams.

This will be complemented by strong regulator enforcement action, penalties for non?compliance, and victim compensation where wrongdoing occurs.

Read More Albanese Government to Introduce Mandatory Anti-Scam Industry Codes

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Australia’s aviation sector appears to have recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic as passenger levels and capacity returned to pre-pandemic levels, the ACCC’s latest Domestic Airline Competition in Australia report reveals.  Australia’s major airlines—Bonza, Jetstar, Qantas, Rex and Virgin Australia —carried 4.9 million domestic passengers in March 2024, which represented 98.8 per cent of passenger figures in March…

Read More Airline Travel and Capacity Returns to Pre-Pandemic Levels