If a scam comes calling—delete it, destroy it or hang up! This is the message from the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT). The taskforce was formed in 2005 and is comprised of 18 government agencies across Australia and New Zealand who have an interest in consumer protection.
The aims of the ACFT are to:
enhance the Australian and New Zealand Governments’ enforcement activity against frauds and scams
create a yearly coordinated information campaign for consumers timed to coincide with global consumer fraud prevention month
involve the private sector in that initiative
share information and generate greater interest in research on consumer frauds and scams.
The ACFT is running scams awareness month (ScAM), which will kick off with its official launch on 13 February 2006, and will run until 15 March, coinciding with World Consumers Day. Each week of the campaign will focus on a different type of scam, including lotteries, advance fee fraud (such as the Nigerian letter scam), phishing scams and cold-calling investment scams.
The ACCC’s webpage ScamWatch (www.scamwatch.gov.au) will serve as the campaign’s information portal, which will raise consumer awareness not only of the campaign and its message, but also of the ScamWatch website for their future reference. ScamWatch will be updated regularly throughout ScAM, with victim scenarios and explanations of different scams. A dedicated ScamWatch telephone number has also been established, to be answered by the ACCC’s Infocentre.
The ACFT has developed a logo and a picture to appear on all campaign material (watch out for the broken piggy bank!) which will include posters and a flier. Articles will also be appearing in a range of media, particularly in media targeting vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers.
The ACFT’s goal is to ensure that consumers recognise scams—and don’t respond. Most scams require some element of consumer participation, and the taskforce hopes that by raising awareness the number of people getting scammed may drop.
Compliance programs guide
The Corporate trade practices compliance programs guide aims to help medium to large companies understand the essential elements of an effective trade practices compliance program. It also gives an overview of the top-end compliance program undertaking templates. The templates are used by the ACCC when accepting s. 87B court enforceable undertakings as part of a resolution of an enforcement matter.
The guide and the template undertakings give greater consistency and clarity to businesses about:
how the ACCC establishes if an organisation has developed a compliance culture
what the ACCC considers essential elements of an effective trade practices compliance program
the expectations the ACCC has from the reports on compliance program reviews it receives as part of business’ obligations under a court order or s. 87B undertaking.
Referring to the guide and the template undertakings will help businesses voluntarily implement and benchmark their own trade practices compliance programs.
The Merger review process guidelines (the merger process guidelines) is a revised version of the Guideline for informal merger review originally issued in October 2004 (the informal review guideline). The revised merger process guidelines refine and further develop the processes the ACCC will follow when considering mergers and acquisitions.
The key amendments in the merger process guidelines include:
expansion of the types of mergers (including confidential proposals) for which processes are detailed in the guideline, and clarification as to what process applies to the different types of mergers that the ACCC will review
new classifications for the various merger reviews undertaken by the ACCC
clearer and shorter indicative timelines for informal reviews
an opportunity for merger parties and interested parties to provide a right of reply to an ACCC statement of issues and publication (subject to limitations) of these responses on the ACCC website.
Consultation process
The ACCC invites interested parties to make written submissions in response to the revised guideline.
Written submissions are due by 5.00 pm Friday, 17 February 2006 and should be forwarded to:
Amanda Denniss Mergers and Asset Sales Branch PO Box 1199 Dickson ACT 2602 Email: mergers@accc.gov.au
Markets liaison
Tobacco education campaign
In May and November 2005 the ACCC accepted s. 87B undertakings from Philip Morris Limited, British American Tobacco Australia and Imperial Tobacco Australia. As part of these undertakings, the three companies contributed $9 million to fund a tobacco education campaign to raise consumer awareness of the damage to consumers’ health from the use of low-yield cigarettes (i.e. light, mild), and in particular, to educate consumers that such low-yield cigarettes were not a healthier choice in preference to higher or full-strength cigarettes.
The advertising campaign, presented as an Australian Government campaign, was launched nationally on 26 December 2005 and will finish in mid-February 2006. Media coverage includes TV (free to air and subscription), radio, press, magazines and the internet. Outdoor coverage includes buses, petrol pump fillboards, elevators, and billboards. The campaign also carries a clear message to call the Quitline for assistance in quitting.
National Quit organisations and Cancer Councils were consulted during the development of the campaign regarding the anticipated increase in calls to the Quitline. Fact and background sheets with information about the campaign and why it was being implemented were distributed to over 150 health professionals and organisations, including the AMA, through the ACCC’s Health Services Advisory Committee network.
Food and beverage labelling
Food and beverage labelling continues to be an important area of concern for the ACCC as part of its role in promoting the availability of comprehensive and truthful information for consumers. In the December 2005 quarter ACCC Commissioner, John Martin, addressed food industry delegates attending the 7th Annual Food Regulations & Labelling Standards Conference. Discussion and trade practices guidance continued to be provided to the Departments of Health, Agriculture and Trade (Cwlth), and Food Standards Australia New Zealand on the (now) mandatory (Australia only) country of origin labelling of food regulations, as gazetted on 8 December 2005.
Price advertising guidelines
Jewellery industry
The ACCC has published, in consultation with members of the jewellery industry, a guide and checklist to help manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and valuers understand their obligations under the consumer protection provisions of the Act. An associated consumer guide has also been published. The three publications are:
Advertising and promotion in the jewellery industry—a guide to the Trade Practices Act
Industry check list for jewellery manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and valuers
The Trade Practices Act 1974—a jewel in the crown of consumer protection.
All three publications are available from the ACCC website.
Types of advertising practices prevalent in the jewellery industry and targeted by the guide include:
not disclosing when gemstones have been treated
not describing gems as 'cultured', 'imitation', 'synthetic' and 'created' when that is what they are
not telling consumers when gemstones have been treated to disguise imperfections, enhance their appearance or make artificial 'gemstones' look more like their natural counterparts
'two price advertising'—for example, saying a product is 'valued' at a particular figure and offering it at a 'special' price
using 'in-house' jargon when presenting items for sale—for example, jewellers understand that a 'Biron emerald' is laboratory emerald, whereas a consumer may assume it is a natural emerald from a place called Biron
comparative price advertising, including 'was/now', strike-through price advertising and the use of valuations in the sale process.
Revised safety standard for cots
The 1998 Trade Practices Act consumer product safety standard for children's household cots has been revised by Product Safety Policy and a new standard published on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments on 2 December 2005. (This legislative instrument can be viewed on website http://www.frli.gov.au, use Tools—Standard search, and enter FRLI number F2005L03885). The standard has been updated to reference the latest Australian/New Zealand standard for cots, AS/NZS 2172:2003, with the previously referenced standard AS/NZS 2172:1995 being deleted from November 2006. The new standard has simplified and clarified the requirements for new cots and has a separate short list of key requirements applicable to second-hand cots.
