National Volunteer Week (NVW) is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering and a chance for all of us to celebrate and recognise the vital work of volunteers. The theme for this year is The Change Makers, a celebration of our power to drive change and ensure volunteering is inclusive of all members of the Australian…
Read More National Volunteer Week 15-21 May 2023: The Change Makers
Original media release 1/05/2023 from Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Privacy regulators from across Australia have issued a joint statement to mark the start of Privacy Awareness Week 2023 (1 to 7 May). For Privacy Awareness Week, privacy authorities from around Australia are joining together to call for people, organisations and agencies to get ‘back to basics’…
Read More Privacy Week 1-7 May 2023: Back to Basics
“Cost of living issues aren’t going away for the foreseeable future, so it’s particularly concerning that over 40% of the Australian adult population are unaware that they can contact their telco provider for help managing their bills. This research shows that it is imperative that financial hardship policies are promoted by telcos and made easily accessible on their websites,”
Read More Consumers Want (and need) More from Telcos
Super Consumers Australia welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement that people will now be paid super at the same time as wages. The move will see more money in the pockets of Australians at retirement and help the regulator crack down on wage theft.
Read More Super Payday
With the release of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) ‘Choice Heatmap‘ which provides greater performance transparency and scrutiny on various multi-sector Choice investment options, Super Consumers Australia (SCA) released a media statement on 26/04/2023 (below) calling for more transparency and testing while emphasising the specific vulnerability of Australian retirees: “It is appalling that after…
Read More “Some super funds shouldn’t be in the market”
The ACCC has highlighted a range of harms to consumers and small businesses occurring across social media services, including excessive data collection practices, lack of effective dispute resolution options, prevalence of scams, lack of transparency for advertisers and inadequate disclosure of sponsored content by influencers and brands.
Read More ACCC Social Media Report Finds Consumers and Small Businesses Require More Protections
The Albanese Government has announced its intent to establish an SMS sender ID Registry or SMS Scam registry to help combat the increasingly large number of scam text messages being sent to Australians. From the 23/04/23 media release from the Minister for Communications, Hon Michelle Rowland MP: Almost half of all Australians have been scammed,…
Read More Federal Government to Act on Disrupting Illegal Text Message Scams
The Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee (COBCCC) has warned customer owned banking institutions to improve reporting following the release of its 2021-22 Annual Data Report.
Read More Customer-Owned Banks Urged to Improve Reporting
Consumers International’s (CI) Global Congress, an event held every four years to bring together the consumer movement and cross-sector influencers, has announced its 2023 location as Nairobi, Kenya from 6th-8th December.
Read More 2023 Consumers International Global Congress: Kenya
Australia’s four major banks are failing their customers by taking a ‘variable and…less mature’ approach to scams than expected, with ‘inconsistent and narrow approaches to determining liability’ as well as gaps in how they detect and stop scam payments, according to Report 761 today from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
Read More ASIC Report says Australian Banks are Failing Customers
Media release first posted 18/04/2023. The ACCC is asking parents and guardians for their views on childcare services in Australia, as part of its year-long inquiry into the sector. Parents and guardians are invited to complete a short online survey to share their experiences when looking for and using childcare services in Australia. The ACCC is seeking…
Read More Parents and Guardians Asked for Their Experience with Childcare
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has just released its 2022 Targeting Scams report in which it found an 80% increase in total losses compared to 2021. Using data from regulators and government agencies, the report highlights the need for further collaboration between government bodies, banks, regulators, telcos, and digital platforms to close “significant…
Read More ACCC Calls for United Front as Scammers Steal Over $3bn from Australians
