Submissions, reports and complaints

CHOICE & the Consumers’ Federation Australia (CFA) welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Aviation Green Paper.

This submission argues that a new economy-wide prohibition, reflected in both the Australian Consumer Law and the Australian Securities and Investments Act, is required.

CHOICE has joined over 20 consumer groups from 19 countries in a joint international statement calling on governments to require social media and other tech companies to implement stronger protections against the growing risks of online scams.

A joint submission making 34 recommendations to address the issues we uncovered with claims handling, insurance contracts, affordability of insurance, internal dispute resolution, land use planning and disaster mitigation efforts.

Consumers in Australia will be better protected from identity theft and data misuse harms under a well-designed national Digital ID system.

CHOICE continues to advocate for the government to include managed investment schemes in the compensation scheme of last resort.

CHOICE submission to ACCC calling for stronger guidelines for businesses making green claims.

CHOICE is calling on policymakers to introduce stronger rules on data brokers to ensure people in Australia are protected.

This report, jointly commissioned by CHOICE, explores the role of the insurance market in responding to climate change and extreme weather events.

CHOICE welcomes the New South Wales Government’s commitment to improve consumer protections for people who rent.

CHOICE supports the creation of a well-funded, specialist AI Commissioner to enforce specialist AI legislation with a full range of regulatory powers.

CHOICE calls on the regulator to take action against Australia’s banks for failing to offer accessible and fair savings rates.

CHOICE recommends federal and state governments take the four steps to ensure that renters are appropriately protected from the risks created by RentTech.

CHOICE strongly recommends a number of policy reforms and actions concerning algorithm transparency and data and privacy.

CHOICE & CFA have recommended that the White Paper include a policy section and recommendations which strengthen consumer protections as well as a section on the role of competition in the aviation sector, including both airlines and airports.

The Privacy Act Review (‘the Review’) is a chance to create a fairer and safer system. Modernising Australia’s privacy laws will make them more fit-for-purpose in an increasingly digital world, and create an even playing field between consumers and businesses. CHOICE urges the Government to implement many of the Review’s recommendations.

The National Strategy should include measures that ensure all people are able to access the benefits of energy performance, including appliance rebates, zero interest loans and free energy-efficiency audits.

Buy now, pay later credit products exploit loopholes in Australia’s credit law to sell people into unaffordable debt. This unregulated credit industry is causing serious economic and social harm to people, families, and households across the country.

CHOICE strongly supports the passage of the Privacy Legislation Amendment Bill 2022. This reform to Australia’s privacy laws will empower privacy regulators to protect people from data misuse.

CHOICE recommends that the Federal Government should introduce strong mandatory fuel-efficiency standards to create the right incentives for efficient cars to be made available to Australian consumers.

CHOICE calls for the Federal Government to shift this responsibility from consumers back to businesses.

Consumer groups strongly support the passage of a well-designed Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (‘CSLR’) and Financial Accountability Regime (‘FAR’). These reforms are landmark recommendations of the Banking Royal Commission and are missing links in Australia’s financial services framework.

CHOICE endorsed Consumer Action Law Centre’s joint submission to the Senate Economics Committee in regards to the Financial Sector Reform Bill 2022, Schedule 4: consumer credit reforms.

CHOICE strongly supports a ban on the supply of harmful inclined sleep products in Australia alongside holistic mandatory safety and information standards for Infant Sleep Products.

CHOICE, Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Counselling Australia and Financial Rights Legal Centre wrote a joint submission to the Quality of Advice Review opposing the proposed deregulation of the financial advice industry.

CHOICE supports measures that protect the rights of consumers both offline and online.

CHOICE has referred Airbnb Australia to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to investigate potential breaches of the Privacy Act 1988.

CHOICE has made a submission to the Quality of Advice Review in which we call for strong protections for people that seek financial advice.

CHOICE has made a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) consultation on Toppling furniture: Assessment of regulatory options.

CHOICE welcomes ASIC’s proposal to extend the ban on the sale and distribution of binary options to retail clients until 1 October 2031. The proposed product intervention extension (‘Binary Options Order’) will prevent widespread harm to the Australian community.

CHOICE is concerned that the retailers’ practices related to their use of facial recognition technology pose significant risks to individuals.

CHOICE welcomes the Commonwealth Treasury’s proposal to regulate digital currency exchanges or crypto asset secondary service providers.

CHOICE has made a submission to the ACCC’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry consultation on Interim Report No. 5: Updating competition and consumer law for digital platform services.

CHOICE maintains that the federal government should implement a general safety duty, as explored in the 2019 consultation that has yet to be acted on.

CHOICE supports the introduction of reforms that place consumer needs at the fore, enabling them to better control and protect their data.

CHOICE along with Consumer Action, Consumer Credit Legal Service WA and WEstjustice made a submission to the federal Treasury as part of their consultation on improving the effectiveness of the consumer guarantee and supplier indemnification provisions in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

CHOICE welcomes the NSW Government consultation on a proposed informationstandard for the NSW Travel Industry.

CHOICE argue that the Budget should commit funding to make the durability and repairability labelling scheme possible.

CHOICE supports stronger supermarket price transparency, clearer in-store and online pricing, expanded unit pricing rules and greater data access.

CHOICE recommends stronger reporting standards on airline performance, urging government action to improve transparency on flight delays, cancellations, and competition.

CHOICE is urging the government to improve unit pricing by making displays clearer and more consistent, expanding the Code to cover more products and retailers, and enabling easier comparisons between stores and online.

CHOICE is calling for urgent action as lithium-ion batteries increasingly cause fires, injuries, deaths, and property loss.

CHOICE has made its first designated complaint to the ACCC alleging energy retailers may be misleading or deceiving consumers in the way that they describe their plans.

CHOICE recommends the government clarify the legal basis for the Charter’s implementation, how it will be used by the Aviation Ombuds Scheme to resolve disputes and how an appropriate regulator will ensure compliance.

CHOICE supports the new digital competition regime with clear designation, broad and service-specific obligations, and strong enforcement to promote fairness in the digital market.

CHOICE leads a joint submission strongly urging the government to maintain a consistent annual cap on late fees for all BNPL models.

A joint submission to the Treasury consultation on a proposal to mandate the acceptance of cash by businesses selling essentials. Urging the government to take steps to secure access to cash for consumers.

CHOICE strongly supports the CSLR. We recommend expansion to capture managed investment schemes and empowering the CSLR to recover debts from responsible companies.

Jointly submission from 19 consumer and advocacy organisations calls for stronger reforms to address systemic unfair business practices, particularly in the digital economy.

CHOICE is calling for a ban on debit card surcharges, a cap on credit card surcharges, and several other interventions aimed at getting small businesses a better deal from the payments industry.

Joint submission calling for changes to the ACL and resource and empower the ACCC to take appropriate action in relation to AI-enabled goods and services.

Joint submission calling for penalties for consumer guarantees to apply economy-wide, and to provide regulators like the ACCC to respond proportionately to all kinds of breaches.

Joint submission that recommends making the home loan market deliver a fairer deal for borrowers, and provide better protections to people if they fall into a temporary difficult life period.

This joint submission makes a range of recommendations to improve the scams prevention framework (SPF) putting victims of scams at the centre of the model and allowing for a much fairer approach to dispute resolution.

CHOICE supports regulating the accessibility of pricing information, auditing unit pricing compliance, and measures to address multi-buy specials, shrinkflation, loyalty programs, and unfair trading practices.

This submission calls for mandatory AI guardrails, a risk-based framework with clear prohibitions, and standalone legislation to protect consumers from harm.

Joint submission calling for the Federal Government to establish mandatory, strong obligations for banks, telcos and digital platforms to protect consumers from scams.

This joint submission urges the Government to treat consumer outcomes as the main goal of competition reform.

CHOICE and the CFA provide feedback on the proposed the proposed amendments to the laws that govern Australia’s oversight of merger and acquisitions

Joint submission calling on the government to reduce grocery prices, improve accessibility and help close the gap for First Nations people living in remote communities.

A joint submission advocating for BNPL to be regulated as credit.

This joint submission urges the Commission to take extra steps to ensure the analysis pays proper regard to consumers’ actual experiences in markets.

This report reveals how scam victims are left isolated and burdened by harm, while businesses enabling scam activity face little accountability.

CHOICE welcomes this inquiry as an opportunity to investigate the pricing and promotional practices of the major supermarkets.

CHOICE welcomes the major step toward regulating BNPL the draft legislation represents and urges the Government to finalise these laws as a priority.

The joint submission recommends that the government establish an independent panel informed by consumer testing to help develop commonly understood standard definitions and insurance coverage.

CHOICE supports the Internet of Things Alliance Australia’s vision to balance innovation with consumer trust, endorsing key positions in its submission while providing additional recommendations.

CHOICE and the Consumers’ Federation of Australia call for stronger merger laws to address market concentration, protect consumers from higher prices and poor service, and ensure effective oversight of mergers in essential and digital markets.

CHOICE and other advocates call for the Federal Government to establish mandatory, strong obligations for banks, telcos and digital platforms to protect consumers from scams.

This submission argues that a new economy-wide prohibition, reflected in both the Australian Consumer Law and the Australian Securities and Investments Act, is required.

CHOICE & the Consumers’ Federation Australia (CFA) welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Aviation Green Paper.

A joint submission making 34 recommendations to address the issues we uncovered with claims handling, insurance contracts, affordability of insurance, internal dispute resolution, land use planning and disaster mitigation efforts.

CHOICE has joined over 20 consumer groups from 19 countries in a joint international statement calling on governments to require social media and other tech companies to implement stronger protections against the growing risks of online scams.

CHOICE’s response to the Privacy Act Review: Issues Paper focuses on matters most relevant to the interactions between people in their role as consumers and businesses that hold and use their data. CHOICE is supportive of measures to improve how privacy complaints operate including a direct right of action.

The government is proposing to axe safe lending laws during Australia’s first recession in three decades, which will be disastrous for the economy and will hurt people. It will tilt the balance of power firmly towards Australia’s major banks and lenders.

CHOICE supports the continued operation of the Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program past the completion of phase one of the NBN rollout. CHOICE considers there to be at least three potential areas that could have large-scale impacts on the Australian broadband industry: FTTP upgrades, 5G connectivity and increase in usage of data.

CHOICE supports the continuation of the country of origin labelling framework but asserts that the framework should be strengthened by having key ingredients sourced or grown overseas displayed in country of origin labels.

CHOICE lodged a complaint to the ACCC about Tinder’s use of customer data to engage in discriminatory pricing practices.

CHOICE asked the Therapeutic Goods Administration and ACCC to investigate potentially misleading advertising claims made by companies about the protection offered by quaternary ammonium compound-based hand sanitisers.

CHOICE urges Forum Ministers, FSANZ and the Front-of-Pack Labelling Secretariat to roll out the strongest possible Health Star Rating system using Calculator 2 without further delay.

CHOICE led a joint consumer submission with CCLSWA, FCA and ICAN asserting that all Australians should have access to reasonable and fair prices for essential goods and that communities in regional and remote areas should not be disadvantaged simply because of their geographical location.

CHOICE’s submission focuses on three key areas of the Consumer Data Right (CDR): potential areas of expansion, accessibility and consumer protection. A national product safety database, country-wide complaints register, and the insurance and automotive industries would all benefit from the application of open data.

CHOICE supports a mandatory standard for button batteries that requires a secure battery compartment, child-resistant packaging and warning and safety information requirements, including exemptions for hearing aid devices and associated zinc air batteries.

CHOICE lodged a complaint to the ACCC about Mosaic Brands Pty Ltd engaging in misleading and deceptive advertising during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

CHOICE is urging the Australian government to make unfair contract terms illegal, and to attach appropriate penalties to businesses that breach the law.

CHOICE’s submission to the Standing Senate Committee on Economics outlining the need for action on payday loans and consumer leases.

The Information Standard sets out disclosure requirements for electronic ticket resale services. CHOICE would like the Information Standard to extend to advertising and promotion of ticket resale sites.

CHOICE led a joint consumer submission calling on the government to introduce a Financial Accountability Regime that will hold finance executives to account.

Consumer Action Law Centre led a joint submission alongside CHOICE and other consumer groups calling on the government to establish a well-funded compensation scheme of last resort.

Throughout February 2020, CHOICE issued a raft of joint submissions alongside Australian consumer groups to Treasury, commenting on the exposure draft legislation relating to insurance, financial services and superannuation. The submissions aim to improve outcomes for consumers across the financial sector.

CHOICE’s submission on the AEMC’s draft National Energy Retail Amendment and the regulation of conditional discounts for electricity in Australia.

CHOICE has an interest in how changes to the national corporate criminal responsibility regime affect consumers, and supports proposals around the inclusion of victim impact statements, improved compensation and illegal phoenixing.

CHOICE’s submission commenting on the draft Model Defamation Amendment Provisions 2020 (draft MDAPs) and supporting the need for a nationally consistent defamation law to exist.

Financial Rights Legal Centre, Consumer Action Law Centre and CHOICE call on the government to remove the insurance “claims handling” loophole and regulate the Insurance Claims Management Services industry.

Consumer Action Law Centre led a joint consumer submission alongside CHOICE commenting on the RBA’s review of retail payments and calling on the RBA to introduce surcharging for buy-now, pay-later schemes.

CHOICE lodged a complaint to the ACCC about health insurer GMHBA bundling a rewards program with some of their health insurance policies, not disclosing the cost of the program, and not allowing people to opt-out when purchasing health insurance online.