Credit Repair Australia is developing its own Code of Conduct. We wrote a submission to O’Shea Lawyers who are developing the code with the following comments and recommendations:
We strongly believe that debt management firms should instead belong to an industry-wide and enforceable Code of Practice. Individual Codes of Conduct like the one drafted by CRA will only create inconsistent consumer protections for customers and will not be universally enforceable.
Codes of conduct in the financial services sector should be modelled on ASIC’s Regulatory Guide 183. Unfortunately in its currently drafted form the CRA Code of Conduct does not come close to addressing the criteria listed in RG183. We are particularly concerned about the Draft Code’s failure to address consumer concerns; demonstrate enforceability; outline any remedies for breaches and commit to a 3-year independent review.
We also made many specific recommendations regarding the provisions in the draft code.
