News Archives - Page 20 of 56 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

24 September , 2021

Third year of declining phone and internet complaints but problems persist for small businesses

Complaints about phone and internet services decreased 6.1 per cent in the last financial year ending 30 June 2021. During this period, residential consumers and small businesses made 119,400 complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, highlighted in the Annual Report 2020-21 published on the 22nd September 2021. This is a media release from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.…

10 September , 2021

Just the ticket – tough new laws to stamp out scalping

Ticket scalping will be illegal in Western Australia after legislation introduced by the McGowan Government passed State Parliament, delivering on an election commitment. This is an announcement from the Government of Western Australia, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. It was originally published on 8th September, 2021. The tough new measures will be in place…

27 August , 2021

Congratulations to the 2021 CFA Mentoring Program alumni

Taking stock of your career and its trajectory isn’t easy. Six rising stars of the consumer movement took on this intense challenge during this year’s inaugural CFA Mentoring Program. Supported by their mentor and their peers, they have explored their career aspirations and the pathways for their personal and professional growth. At the end of…

26 August , 2021

Banks can do better: Consumer groups make more than 100 recommendations to improve bank behaviour

A coalition of the country’s leading consumer organisations is calling on Australia’s major banks to make significant updates to their industry code to improve outcomes for customers. The Consumers’ Federation of Australia’s (CFA) submission of behalf of the coalition to the 2021 review of the Australian Banking Association (ABA) Banking Code of Practice (the Code)…

9 August , 2021

Insurers targeting people who rent with unjust bills over $300,000

CHOICE and WEstJustice have called for regulatory intervention to stop insurance companies unfairly pursuing people who rent for claims made on landlord insurance. This is a CHOICE and WEstJustice media statement, originally published on 6th August, 2021. Read the full investigation. The advocacy groups have presented finance regulator ASIC with evidence of insurers pursuing debts…

2 August , 2021

Federal government misses opportunity to help shoppers save at the checkout

The nation’s peak body for consumer organisations, the Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) says shoppers will miss out on big savings possible when buying groceries, and other packaged products, as a result of federal government not improving the current Unit Pricing Code. The Code requires only large supermarkets and some online grocery retailers to provide…

28 July , 2021

Australian consumers back proposed solar export rule changes

Consumers have strongly backed proposed rule changes being considered by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) that are designed to enable growth in electricity exports from rooftop solar panels, enabling more Australians to share in the economic and environmental benefits. This is an Energy Consumers Australia media release, originally published on 27th July, 2021. The changes would allow…

30 June , 2021

BCCC publishes 2021-24 Strategic Plan and 2021-22 Business Plan

The Banking Code Compliance Committee (BCCC) has published its 2021-24 Strategic Plan and 2021-22 Business Plan. The 2021-24 Strategic Plan outlines the areas we will focus on to achieve our purpose for the period 2021–22 to 2023–24, including taking action to: improve the visibility of the BCCC enhance our intelligence sources and identify important issues expand our engagement with consumer stakeholders…

30 June , 2021

Get involved in the development of Australian standards with NEXTgen 2021-22 programs

The Standards Australia NEXTgen 2021-22 Program selects emerging industry and technical experts and provides them with an exciting opportunity to become involved in the national and international standardisation processes developing important standards of benefit to the Australian community. The goal of the program is to support the future of standards development through investing in the next generation of…

23 June , 2021

Draft Report on “Right to Repair” Released for Comment

A draft report by the Productivity Commission on a ‘right to repair’ outlines some measures governments could take to assist consumers to get their products repaired. Written submissions or brief comments must be made by Friday 23 July 2021. The Commission is also holding public hearings using a video and teleconferencing service, with the option…

18 June , 2021

Queens Birthday Honours for Consumer Advocates

The Consumers’ Federation of Australia is delighted to congratulate consumer advocates Susan Fraser and David Niven on being awarded Medals of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Sue Fraser leads Uniting’s (formerly Kildonan) Enterprise Partnerships team consulting to the banking, debt collection, utilities and telecommunications sectors, enabling positive financial outcomes for…

31 May , 2021

Unaisi Buli wins prestigious award

On May 19th, ICAN’s own Unaisi Buli was awarded the prestigious Jan Pentland Prize at the national Financial Counselling Australia Conference held in Darwin, in recognition of her outstanding work in financial counselling. For Unaisi, her work as a Financial Counsellor is a journey that began with seeing injustices happening to her people on a…