Small businesses wanting advice on small business and franchising can now speak directly to highly trained staff by simply calling 1300 302 021.
Or, from the easy access point on the ACCC website’s front page, they can go to dedicated small business pages with everything they need to know about complying with the Trade Practices Act and the protection it provides.
In launching the new facilities, ACCC Commissioner, Mr John Martin said:
While the ACCC and the Trade Practices Act continues a strong enforcement focus, our ultimate objective is to assist business, especially small business, to understand their responsibilities and rights and, as much as possible, avoid problems associated with trade practices compliance failures.
The ACCC small business helpline and small business webpage are central communication tools for the ACCC to reach small businesses in metropolitan, rural and regional locations and complements the printed publications distributed through the ACCC's stakeholder networks.
Small businesses can also lodge complaints with the ACCC using an online small business complaints form. The online form is specifically tailored for use by small business and can be accessed from the small business section of the website.
ACCC warns motor vehicle industry
On 22 November 2005 ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, warned the motor vehicle industry that its advertising practices were not up to scratch and risked contravening the Trade Practices Act.
Considerable effort was made to ensure the guidelines provided simple and practical advice for those in the industry to enable them to readily comply with their obligations under the Act.
However, a recent assessment by the ACCC of motor vehicle advertising, both print and television, revealed a high level of non-compliance with trade practices obligations. The ACCC still sees plenty of examples of advertisements with qualifications in fine print that are:
in fonts that are too small
in colours that lack contrast with the background
short on information about additional fees and charges
designed so important information on additional fees and charges is isolated from the main text.
Other problems included the use of pictures of expensive cars that are not available at the prices advertised.
Mr Samuel said:
These continuing problems are disappointing given the wide ranging consultation that took place on developing the guidelines to assist the industry.
The deficiencies go beyond a failure to meet the best practice principles outlined in the guidelines and exposed numerous potential breaches of the Act.
The ACCC is actively monitoring advertising in the motor vehicle industry. If there is no immediate improvement in the level of compliance, companies risk formal legal action by the ACCC to ensure obligations imposed by the Act are met.
