First-ever cross-sector coalition unites to tackle Australia’s home insurance crisis
For the first time, insurers, actuaries, banks, community legal centres, academics and consumer advocates have united behind a single blueprint to improve home insurance affordability The Housing Resilience Action Plan 2030 outlines more than 50 concrete actions, a clear timeline and a direct call on the Federal Government to act within six months Sydney, 30 […]
Rogue lender Cigno and directors fined $7 million at Federal Court
Consumer advocates have welcomed the decision by the Federal Court to fine Cigno Australia and its director Mark Swanepoel, and BSF Solutions and its director Brenton Harrison a combined penalty of $7 million for engaging in credit activity without a licence and charging prohibited fees. “Congratulations to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) for taking bold regulatory […]
“Landmark laws”: Consumer groups welcome unfair trading prohibition
17 leading consumer groups have today welcomed the introduction of an Unfair Trading Prohibition to the Federal Parliament. Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) CEO, Erin Turner: “A ban on unfair business practices has been a missing part of our Australian consumer law for a long time. It’s shocking that businesses have been able to treat […]
Wrong direction: Australians robbed of $2.2 billion in 2025 by scam-crime
More than $10 billion has been stolen in scams from Australians since 2020 – a deeply troubling statistic as victims continue to carry 95% of the losses, and 30% or more of victims don’t report their losses. “Despite laws passing over a year ago, and pages of initiatives and awareness raising outlined in the Targeting Scams report, scams losses haven’t plateaued – they’re headed in the wrong […]
New report the nail in the coffin for dodgy strata commissions
The NSW Productivity and Equality Commission (PEC) has recommended ending commissions for strata managers in its Strata Commissions review report The market impacts of prohibiting conflicted payments released today. Quotes below are attributable to Alexandra Kelly, Director of Casework, Financial Rights Legal Centre: “Conflicts of interest have plagued the strata and insurance sectors for years, so there […]
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 […]
Car finance practices under the microscope find plenty of areas for improvement
ASIC’s early review findings about car finance failures come as little surprise to Financial Rights Legal Centre and Mob Strong Debt Help. Our services spend a significant amount of time and resources assisting clients with problems related to their car finance arrangements, and the interim findings released by ASIC today directly reflect the experiences of […]
Life insurers continue to exclude and deny consumers who disclose even minor mental health conditions
Some life insurers are inappropriately applying broad exclusions or denying life insurance altogether to consumers who disclose mental health conditions. This was one of the key findings of a report released on life insurers approach to mental health by the Life Insurance Compliance Committee. Quotes from Financial Rights Legal Centre, Amy Knox, Assistant Director of […]
Court Finds Money3 Breached Responsible Lending Laws: Consumer Advocates Welcome Outcome
In a decision handed down on Friday, the Federal Court has found that car lender Money3 breached responsible lending laws. The case, brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), revealed failures by Money3 to comply with its obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act in relation to 6 people who had taken out loans […]
