Consumer groups welcome commitment to reducing remote grocery prices
Consumer advocates respond to today’s announcement that the Albanese government will lock remote grocery prices to city prices. Quotes attributable to Lynda Edwards, Director of First Nations Policy at Financial Counselling Australia: “Financial counsellors and capability workers welcome this initiative. It recognises the fact that First Nations people are paying far too much for essential grocery […]
“Good start, more work to do”: Consumer groups issue report card to general insurers
Consumer groups including the Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Australia have welcomed the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICAs) initial industry response to the General Insurance Code of Practice Independent Review and the 2022 Flood Inquiry Recommendations, released today and called upon the sector to respond to, and accept all […]
Advocates welcome findings of government inquiry into financial abuse
Today (5 December) the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services will release its long-awaited report from the inquiry into the Financial Services Regulatory Framework in Relation to Financial Abuse, which commenced in April 2024. Members of the Economic Abuse Reference Group, a national network of over 50 community organisations that work with government […]
ASIC Report casts light on general insurer’s dirty little secret
Consumer groups have called on the general insurance sector to stop with the excuses and invest some of their huge profits into proper claims and complaints handling following the release of an ASIC report into abysmal internal dispute resolution practices. Quotes attributable to: Alexandra Kelly, Director of Casework, Financial Rights Legal Centre “Australians are fed […]
Consumer groups welcome passing of buy now, pay later regulations
Consumer groups have welcomed the passing of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (BNPL Bill) through the Senate last night and all of Parliament this morning. The BNPL Bill will bring buy now, pay later services within the national credit laws, so that most consumer protections that apply to other […]
Consumer advocates welcome proposed reforms to Government payment service
The Financial Rights Legal Centre, Mob Strong Debt Help, and Consumer Action Law Centre welcome the proposed reforms to Centrepay announced by Minister Bill Shorten this morning. These reforms include important consumer protections that consumer advocates across the country have been calling for. Centrepay is an invaluable service for social security recipients, but consumer advocates […]
Strata debt recovery reforms fall short
Anyone expecting genuine improvement to notorious strata debt collection practices will be disappointed in the amendments to the Strata Schemes Management Act introduced to NSW parliament today, says the Financial Rights Legal Centre. “Once again, the needs of people struggling to pay their strata levies have come second to aggressive debt collection – a problem […]
Flood Inquiry Report provides clear roadmap to lift insurer standards
Consumer groups have welcomed the release of the Final Report of the Standing Committee on Economics’ Inquiry into Insurer’s responses to 2022 Major Floods. The groups have called on the insurance sector and the Insurance Council of Australia to accept all the recommendations and implement changes to their internal processes and the Code of Practice […]
Government’s Scams Prevention Framework only goes halfway – we need a presumption of reimbursement say consumer advocates
A broad coalition of consumer advocates is calling for the Albanese Government to make one fundamental change to the proposed Scams Prevention Framework (SPF) and put reimbursement at its core, warning that without this improvement the SPF is not going to work for the tens of thousands of Australia’s robbed by scammers. The group’s call […]
Consumer Groups Demand Government-Directed Inquiry into Strata Management Industry
A coalition of leading consumer advocacy associations has today called on Federal Treasurer, Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP to initiate a government-directed public inquiry, led by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission or the Productivity Commission, into the strata management industry. The coalition cites systemic harmful practices within the industry that compromise consumer rights and […]