Regulator News Archives - Page 3 of 65 - Consumers' Federation of Australia

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

5 June , 2024

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

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…

3 June , 2024

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

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…

31 May , 2024

Consumer Representative Opportunity: ASIC Consumer Consultative Panel

CFA is represented on the ASIC Consumer Consultative Panel (CCP) and is seeking a new CFA representative to fulfil this role. The CCP assists ASIC to identify current and emerging consumer issues in the sectors we regulate; provides feedback on proposed regulatory changes; and through an evidence base of practical experience, inform the development and…

29 May , 2024

Bank Industry to Continue Cash Transit Collaboration

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…

29 May , 2024

Passing the Buck: Scam Victims Carrying Unfair Burden

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…

24 May , 2024

Albanese Government to Introduce Mandatory Anti-Scam Industry Codes

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.

20 May , 2024

ASIC Report Highlights Industry Hardship Failures

Some home loan lenders have made accessing financial assistance so difficult that more than one in three (35%) Australians dropped out of the application process at least once, according to a new ASIC report. The report, Hardship, hard to get help: Lenders fall short in financial hardship support (REP 783) outlines findings from ASIC’s review of 10…

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…

8 May , 2024

Supermarket Loyalty Programs: The Price Isn’t Right

New research from CHOICE has revealed 4 in 5 CHOICE supporters think it’s unfair for supermarkets to charge higher prices for customers who don’t sign up for loyalty programs. The survey of over 8,000 CHOICE supporters also found nearly half of respondents were worried about the data being collected about them through loyalty programs. The…

8 May , 2024

Customer Owned Banks Urged to Continue Improving Reporting Practices

A rise in reported breaches of the industry Code of Practice indicates better reporting from customer-owned banking institutions but also a sign of the need for improvements in reporting and remediation. The Annual Data Report from the Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee (COBCCC), which covers the 2022-23 reporting period, shows that the number of customer…

6 May , 2024

Compensation for Cancelled Flights Should be the Norm

CHOICE response to announcement Qantas has agreed to pay $120 million to settle ACCCenforcement action. Quotes attributable to Rosie Thomas, Director of Campaigns and Communications at CHOICE: “Qantas agreeing to pay $120 million dollars and admitting it misled consumers after ACCC court action is a significant result. The proposed settlement sends a very clear message…