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 […]
Slow progress on improving family violence policies offered by general insurance industry
Despite meaningful improvement by some insurers, it remains a lottery for anyone unfortunate enough to need family violence support from their insurer. This was the key finding of an updated desktop audit of the family violence policies of 55 subscribers to the General Insurance Code of Practice. The purpose of the updated audit was to […]
Consumer groups welcome reforms addressing harms caused by a bankruptcy system not fit for purpose
Consumer advocates have been calling for urgent reform for some time and last year outlined key pressure points during a round-table discussion organised by the Federal Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus KC. “It is vital for bankruptcy laws to be fair and safe, especially for people experiencing vulnerability because for years, it has been far too […]
Consumer advocates welcome revised Banking Code of Practice with incremental improvements noted
Consumer advocates are welcoming the revised Banking Code of Practice (the Banking Code) announced today which includes some incremental improvements to consumer protections. Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin said the Hayne Royal Commission exposed the massive harms that unregulated banking activity and other poor banking practices can lead to for ordinary Australians, but […]
Consumer groups welcome new laws regulating Buy Now, Pay Later as credit but some concerns remain
New laws regulating Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) have been announced today. Consumer groups respond as follows: Quotes attributable to Alexandra Kelly, Director of Casework of Financial Rights Legal Centre “Today is a great day for Australian consumers with the Government introducing legislation to at long last treat Buy Now, Pay Later as what it […]
Noble Oak has strongest family violence policy – desktop audit finds
Noble Oak has the strongest family violence policy in the life insurance industry. This was the finding of a desktop audit undertaken to evaluate the family violence policies of the 15 subscribers to the Life Insurance Code of Practice required to have a family violence policy. The 2023 Life Insurance Code of Practice introduced new […]
Advocates welcome continued ban on use of Centrepay by business operating in remote Australia, and call for broader Centrepay reform
First Nations and other consumer advocates have welcomed the extension of ASIC’s interim Stop Order on Coral Coast Distributors (Cairns) Ptd Ltd trading as Urban Rampage (Urban Rampage) retail stores, where customers enter agreements to pay for goods on credit through Centrepay deductions. The original stop order was imposed because ASIC received complaints about Urban […]