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ACCAN has today welcomed the decisive action by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in holding Optus to account and issuing a $12 million fine for risking the welfare of hundreds of consumers during the widespread outage of November 2023. This latest fine signals the need for the company and its new CEO, Steven…
Read More Optus Fined Over 2023 Outage Impacting Triple Zero
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Consumer groups have welcomed the release of the Final Report of the Standing Committee on Economics’ Inquiry into Insurer’s responses to 2022 Major Floods. The groups have called on the insurance sector and the Insurance Council of Australia to accept all the recommendations and implement changes to their internal processes and the Code of Practice…
Read More Advocates Welcome Flood Inquiry Report, Urge Government to Act Now
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Consumer group CHOICE has welcomed the Federal Government’s plans to strengthen unit pricing by reviewing the rules and introducing strong penalties for non-compliance. Quotes attributable to Deputy Director of Campaigns, Andy Kelly: “CHOICE welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement to improve the rules around grocery unit pricing. Currently, supermarkets can’t be penalised for poor unit pricing and…
Read More CHOICE Welcomes Federal Government’s Announcement to Strengthen Unit Pricing Rules
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A broad coalition of consumer advocates is calling for the Albanese Government to make one fundamental change to the proposed Scams Prevention Framework (SPF) and put reimbursement at its core, warning that without this improvement the SPF is not going to work for the tens of thousands of Australia’s robbed by scammers. The group’s call…
Read More Advocates Warn Scams Prevention Framework Needs Assumption of Reimbursement, Not Halfway Measures
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A report from the Telecommunication Industry Ombudsman (TIO) of a 14.6% reduction in consumer complaints over the past year is unlikely to be an indication of improved satisfaction with communications services. The reduction in complaints is more likely to indicate that telco consumers are increasingly giving up on the complaints process. Over 50% of consumers…
Read More Advocates Warn that Telco Complaint Reduction a Sign of Consumers Giving Up on Process
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The ACCC welcomed today’s announcement by the Treasurer of $30 million over 3.5 years in additional funding for investigations and enforcement relating to the supermarket and retail sector. ACCC Chair Cass-Gottlieb said the additional resources would allow for a significant enhancement of the ACCC’s enforcement and compliance activities in an essential sector relied upon by…
Read More Additional Funding for Investigation and Enforcement of Retail and Supermarket Sectors Welcomed
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The Digital Platform Regulators Forum (DP-REG) has published a working paper on multimodal foundation models (MFMs) used in generative artificial intelligence (AI). The latest working paper “Examination of technology – Multimodal Foundation Models” examines MFMs – a type of generative AI that can process and output multiple data types, such as image, audio or video…
Read More Regulators Release Working Paper on an AI Generative Model
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The majority of Australia’s consumer regulators are missing the opportunity to act as an early warning system for dodgy businesses, according to new research from the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC). The Am I The Only One? report, released today, finds that most Australian consumer regulators do not publish regular complaints data in an accessible…
Read More Calls Continue for Consumer Regulators to Release Data
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Mandatory code of practice, subsidies for food transportation and increased income support needed A coalition of consumer and indigenous groups is calling on the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) to better protect vulnerable residents in remote areas. The organisations have welcomed the proposed National Strategy for Food Security in Remote First Nations Communities, but they…
Read More Consumer Groups Call on NIAA to Strengthen Remote Food Security Strategy
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Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and Super Consumers Australia, have welcomed the announcement from the Albanese Government of a consultation on a draft bill starting today, for the proposed Scams Prevention Framework. “I congratulate Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and the Albanese Government for pushing ahead with these scam…
Read More Advocates Welcome New Scam Framework, Urge Consumer Safeguards be at the Front and Centre
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The ACCC has granted authorisation to allow the Australian Banking Association (ABA), its member banks, Australia Post, retailers, supermarkets and other industry participants to collaborate so they can ensure there is continuity of cash-in-transit services.The ACCC’s authorisation allows the parties to collaborate and prepare for any suspension or disruption of cash-in-transit services.“It is important that…
Read More Collaboration to Support Cash-in-Transit Services Given Interim Authorisation
