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“Unfortunately, there is currently no mandatory Australian safety standard for bassinets. This means that year after year we continue to see unsafe bassinets make it onto the shelves,” says Kim Gilmour, CHOICE baby product expert.
Read More 40% of Bassinets in Australia Fail Safety Test
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Three months after the ABC ran a story about virtual kidnapping scams targeting Chinese international students in Sydney, the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC) has warned that the scam, which aims to threaten, intimidate, and steal from Chinese students living in Australia (regardless of socio-economic status), has more than doubled in number since August 2023.
Read More NASC Warns of Increasing Virtual Kidnapping Scams
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Single parents who want to cover their children on their policy will be slugged with an increase of up to 60–70% in many cases. Sometimes they’ll even pay twice as much.
Read More Single Parents Unfairly Priced Out of Health Insurance
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The Customer Owned Banking Code Compliance Committee (COBCCC) has recently released its Annual Report for 2022-23 (available here). There was positive news in terms of the preparedness of customer-owned banks to adopt the new 2022 Customer Owned Banking Code of Practice (the Code) which has been characterised as clearer and stronger in its commitments, especially…
Read More Improvements for Consumers But Concerns Linger Over Reporting Practices
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“We know that suicide is complex and often linked to many risk factors like personal debt, unemployment, family breakdown, social isolation, and mental health.
“Feeding the family and keeping a roof over our heads are two of the most basic human needs. While interest rates are a matter for the RBA Board, we must be prepared and proactive to prevent distress and suicide rates from continuing to rise,” said Ms Murray.
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Access to information, goods, and services are fundamental to consumer education, protection, advocacy, and rights. The importance of access and how some people are left out is something that is crucial to discussions about metropolitan areas as compared to rural and remote areas, where access to many goods and services can be limited and potentially…
Read More Accessibility Best Practice Guide
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Original media release from CHOICE (30/08/2023). “We gave several playpens a score of zero for performance simply because they had so many failures,” says Kim Gilmour, CHOICE’s team leader for household products. In fact, eight of the 25 models in our current review failed to pass CHOICE’s key safety requirements – that’s almost a third, a…
Read More Almost a Third of Playpens Fail CHOICE Safety Test
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“This legislation is terrific,” Ms Levin said. “We’re delighted that it covers not only credit cards, but also digital wallets and digital currencies.”
Ms Levin said the one area of disappointment was a carve-out for online lotteries.
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Lauren’s eye-opening presentation on gambling harm prevention demonstrates just how much Australian regulators and politicians can learn from their European counterparts.
Read More “The sky didn’t fall in”
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One-and-a-quarter million Australian households face home insurance affordability stress
Read More Priced Out – House Insurance Affordability
Consumer Protection
Almost a year after state and territory consumer ministers agreed to open consultation on options to address the gap in Australian Consumer Law (ACL) around unfair trading practices, Treasury has released a Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (CRIS) and given stakeholders 91 days to respond starting 31st August and ending 29th November 2023.
Read More Consumer Groups Advocate for Change as Consultations Open on Unfair Trading Practices
ASIC will take further enforcement action to protect Australian consumers and small businesses in an environment where scams, digitally-enabled misconduct and predatory lending practices are increasingly prevalent.
‘We are responding to key trends and emerging issues in the regulatory landscape, where there are major shifts across sustainable finance, the digital and data economy, and an ageing population.’
‘We are also closely monitoring the development and use of artificial intelligence and what this means for the businesses and markets we regulate and exploring potential uses of this and other technologies within ASIC,’ Mr Longo said.
Read More ASIC’s Corporate Plan: Focus on Protecting Vulnerable Consumers and Small Businesses in 23-24
