Strata hardship reforms now in effect in NSW
Over the past 2 years Financial Rights and our colleagues at Financial Counselling Australia and Marrickville Legal Centre worked with Fair Trading NSW to address shocking practices in the collection of overdue strata levies. Strata debt collection is notoriously quick and aggressive. Unlike credit or essential service providers, there have been no consumer protections that […]
Credit reporting in focus
Credit reporting disputes and systemic issues have always been a core part of our credit and debt work at Financial Rights. In 2025 credit reporting was a major focus for our policy team as we tried to clearly articulate the consumer detriment we regularly hear about through our casework. Financial Rights has been leading the […]
Consumer tips: managing rising energy costs in NSW
In the chaos of day-to-day living, keeping tabs on the energy bill is never the first thing on anyone’s mind. With ever increasing energy prices, it can be useful to spend some time taking inventory of the ins and outs of your energy bill to help manage costs and make sure you’re not overpaying for […]
Consumer groups call on Government to block scammers this Valentine’s Day
New protections needed to cover key businesses enabling romance scammers A coalition of consumer advocacy groups, financial counselling organisations and community legal centres, including CHOICE, Financial Counselling Australia, Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC), Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), Financial Rights Legal Centre (FRLC), Mob Strong Debt Help, Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC), Consumer Credit […]
Consumer advocates welcome report on the national scourge of lemon cars
Advocates across Australia are welcoming a new report today from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) which points a lens at one of the nation’s most pervasive and troubling consumer issues – the sale of faulty second-hand cars. The report Consumer issues in the sale of second-hand cars details the vast scale of the […]
Banks should be responsible for shifting people onto better accounts, say consumer groups
Consumer groups are urging the ACCC to put the onus on banks to shift people into basic bank accounts as part of the ACCC’s authorisation of the Australian Bank Association’s (ABA) work on basic banking. The ACCC undertook another brief round of consultation on the ABA’s request following ASIC’s Better and Beyond: Expanding Better banking […]
ASIC report into bank fees prompts banks to refund $93 million in dodgy fees to low-income Australians – but CBA withholds another $270 million
That banks are returning a whopping $93 million in unnecessary bank fees to low-income Australians is huge news. But the decision by CBA to keep an additional $270 million they pocketed, while other banks return their dodgy fees is simply staggering. ASIC’s Better banking for Indigenous consumers report, published in 2024, showed the impact of […]
Rogue lender Cigno and its Directors lose appeal to the Full Federal Court
Cigno Australia Pty Ltd and its directors’ appeal to the Full Federal Court has been dismissed today and costs awarded to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin said the decision was significant because the original trial judge had found not only Cigno Australia, but also its Australian directors, Mark Swanepoel […]
Stop the harms! Regulate wage advance products now say consumer advocates
Consumer advocates from across Australia are calling on the Albanese Government to urgently regulate the proliferation of ‘wage advance’ products that are making the cost-of-living crisis worse for thousands of people and sending them into dangerous debt spirals. The call comes as Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) products are finally being regulated from 10 June […]
Scams laws passing a relief, but victims to face an uphill battle for redress
Consumer advocates say the passing of the Scams Prevention Framework (SPF) fills a gaping hole in the law and in time should protect many Australians from falling victim to the scourge of scams. But thousands of future victims -many of whom will lose everything to sophisticated scams- have an uphill battle for redress. “I am […]