member news Archives - Page 4 of 7 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

25 June , 2024

ICAN Releases Literature Review on Economic Abuse in First Nations Communities

Today, ICAN releases its literature review: A study of local economic abuse in First Nations communities with a special focus on Australia and Canada. The study was undertaken by Professor Jerry Buckland from the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) and Carmen Daniels, Research Manager at ICAN. ICAN’s purpose in undertaking the research, was to review the literature…

20 June , 2024

CHOICE Supermarket Basket Survey Reveals Clear Winner

Consumer group CHOICE has today released its first quarterly, government-funded report on supermarket prices across Australia.

As part of the research, CHOICE sent mystery shoppers to 81 regional and metropolitan supermarkets across the country, including Aldi, Woolworths, and Coles, to record prices for 14 common grocery items.

Read the full story here: www.choice.com.au/cheapestgroceries

17 May , 2024

Productivity Commission National Competition Policy Reforms Submission

Consumers’ Federation of Australia (CFA) and CHOICE has made a submission to the Productivity Commission about future National Competition Policy reforms. The submission stresses the need to analyse potential policy reforms with a focus on their effects on consumers and households, urging the Commission to prioritise understanding how different groups might be affected. The submission’s…

16 May , 2024

Consumer Groups Call for Increased Resourcing of NSW Strata & Property Services Commissioner as Strata Populations Increase

The groups emphasise the critical role of the Commissioner’s office in addressing the unique challengesof the strata sector, which currently houses 35% of NSW residents, with projections of 50% by 2040. “Despite the visionary establishment of the Strata and Property Services Commissioner’s Office, and thecommendable efforts of John Minns since his appointment, the office is…

7 May , 2024

Financial Rights Publishes Report on Best Practice in Life Insurer Family Violence Policies

The 2023 Life Insurance Code of Practice (the Life Insurance Code) introduced a requirement for insurers to have family violence policies available online for their customers. For many life insurers this will be the first publicly available written policy indicating how they will support customers experiencing family violence. Family violence – in the form of…

26 April , 2024

Five Priorities Highlighted by First Nations Super Summit Report

The 2024 First Nations Super Summit has set five crucial priorities for the Indigenous Superannuation Working Group to address over the next 12 months, aiming to elevate super standards for First Nations people. These priorities include the standardisation of forms and the empowerment of financial counsellors to act on behalf of their Indigenous clients, as…

23 April , 2024

Big Supermarkets and Confusing Promotional Labels

1 in 4 people didn’t know whether price labels represented a discount on the usual price New nationally representative data from consumer group CHOICE has revealed on average 1 in 4 people find it difficult to identify if certain supermarket labels represent a true discount or not. CHOICE asked over 1,000 consumers if they could…

22 April , 2024

Advocates Call For Supermarket Inquiries to Recommend Clearer Pricing

The Queensland Consumers Association (QCA) is calling for the inquiries into supermarkets now being undertaken by a Senate Select Committee, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and a Queensland Parliament Select Committee to recommend improvements to the clarity of supermarket pricing. In submissions to each inquiry, the QCA says improvements are essential in order…

22 April , 2024

Financial Counselling Industry Fund Launches

More Australians will now have access to support from financial counsellors with the launch of the Financial Counselling Industry Fund (FCIF). The FCIF is the result of a collaboration between the financial counselling sector and a number of industries and companies – Australian Banking Association member banks, Australian Energy Council, Energy Networks Australia, Insurance Council…

19 April , 2024

The Price Is Not Right: ICAN’s Queensland Supermarket Submission

As a provider of education, advocacy, and financial counselling services to people across North and Far North Queensland, ICAN recently provided a submission to the Inquiry into Supermarket Pricing in Queensland. Our submission focused on the significant price differences people experience when shopping depending on whether they are based in metropolitan Queensland or remote and…

18 April , 2024

CALD Communities in need of urgent supports for energy transition

A new report released today has found improvements are needed to the quality of advice and supports, and to the service provided by retailers and other energy service providers, or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) consumers risk being left behind in the energy transition. The joint Insights Report by Energy Consumers Australia (ECA) and Sydney Community Forum (SCF) is…

17 April , 2024

Consumer Advocates urge for more than 3 Designated Complainants

The designated complaints regime provides the potential for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to address systemic and emerging harms including those that may not fit neatly into a case study or set of existing regulations for the ACCC to investigate and take action.