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“No one should come off BetStop and be able to gamble without a sensible deposit limit in place. Right now, a person can revoke the self-exclusion and the following day they can bet $100,000 which is clearly absurd,” Ms Levin said.
The new BetStop data shows that 1400 people have revoked their self-exclusion, and this group are most at risk.
Read More BetStop a Good Start but Expansion is Needed
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ASIC’s review found that often there was insufficient emphasis on and a lack of transparency about Choice investment options that failed to meet performance expectations. There was little evidence of trustees communicating to members about investment option performance in a targeted manner, and financial advisers were not always addressing underperformance where relevant.
‘Members should be informed about their super investments – not left in the dark if their super investments are not performing as expected, and there may be better alternatives,’ Ms Constant said.
Read More ASIC Calls on Industry to Address Issues and Improve Oversight on Choice Super Performance
Fraud Alert
Recent super fund data breaches and increasingly sophisticated super scams demonstrate the urgent need for industry collaboration on a super anti-scam code. Super Consumers Australia today is urging the Federal Government to prioritise the safety of Australians’ 24 million retirement savings accounts by introducing a superannuation industry anti-scam code.
Since 2022, up to 178,000 superannuation members across three super funds have been placed at a heightened risk of phishing scams due to known super fund data breaches.
Read More Advocates Call for New Super Anti-Scam Code
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Romance baiting scams cause significant emotional and financial harm to Australians, with Scamwatch receiving 484 reports of this scam in 2023. Despite overall losses nearly halving in the past year, reports to Scamwatch show that more than $40 million was lost to romance baiting scams in 2023.
Romance baiting scams disproportionately impact people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, with reports to Scamwatch from these communities accounting for more than 30 per cent ($12 million) of total losses last year.
Read More NASC Warns Consumers to Be Aware to Valentine and Romance Baiting Scams
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These rules have been developed by the ACMA in response to a direction from the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, to make an enforceable industry standard that will improve safeguards for telco customers experiencing financial difficulties.
The new Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024 requires telcos to establish and promote clearly accessible written financial hardship policies. Telcos must do more to proactively identify customers experiencing financial hardship and prioritise keeping them connected to services.
Read More New Telco Industry Standard to Address “range of financial gaps”
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A coalition of advocacy groups, including Consumer Action Law Centre, CHOICE and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, have come out forcefully stating that customer reimbursement, paid for by industry through a customer’s own bank, must be at the centre of the Federal Government’s proposed new scam laws. The advocates say the new laws must be urgently implemented by the end of this year to stop the billions of dollars that are being lost by Australians every year to scammers.
Read More Industry Liability the Clear Path to Scam Reform
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The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has now opened its 2024 grants round, below is the overview also provided on ACCAN’s website here. 2024 Grants Round NOW OPEN Submit your application by: Friday 23rd February, 2024, 5pm AEDT. Contact Us: If you are thinking of applying, we encourage you to speak with us in advance.…
Read More ACCAN Open 2024 Grants Round
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ASIC has published a summary document from a 30 November 2023 virtual workshop which focussed on building an understanding of identification verification challenges faced by First Nations consumers, and how industry can apply flexible approaches while meeting legislative requirements.
Read More ASIC Releases Summary for Indigenous Financial Services Framework Workshop
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Consumer advocates call on insurers to act now at flood insurance inquiry
Urgent changes needed to improve claims handling process
A number of consumer advocacy groups – including CHOICE, Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre, and Financial Counselling Australia – will be the first to appear today and tomorrow at a public hearing for the parliamentary inquiry into insurers’ responses to 2022 major floods claims.
Read More Consumer Advocates Call on Insurers to Act Now at Flood Insurance Inquiry
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55% of Australians incorrectly dispose of batteries. Australian B-cycle “Never bin your batteries” aims to help consumers understand the risks of throwing batteries away in regular bins. It emphasises the need to never put used batteries in general waste or recycling bins, to instead tape the terminals with clear sticky tape and take them to…
Read More Safe Battery Disposal
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The Consumers Federation of Australia (CFA) and CHOICE have provided a submission to the newly newly established Competition Taskforce on merger approvals. Australia has many markets that are highly concentrated; supermarkets, airlines, banking, telecommunications, energy and insurance are all markets where a few dominant companies provide most Australians with essential products and services. Increasingly, we…
Read More CFA Supports Reforms to Merger Approvals
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In February 2023, health ministers announced they would take action to ensure the management of professional misconduct by health practitioners relating to sexual misconduct and sexual boundary violations would better meet community expectations.
Health ministers are seeking feedback to determine if amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law are needed to provide greater transparency to the public about health practitioners’ regulatory history when they have engaged in sexual misconduct or sexual boundary violations.
Read More Proposed Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Reforms
