ACCC submission to inquiry into Australia's consumer policy framework

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today lodged its submission to the Productivity Commission's inquiry into Australia's consumer policy framework.

"The economic landscape has changed considerably since the introduction of the Trade Practices Act, and the ACCC believes it is important that the current laws are examined to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of consumers," ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.

"The ACCC believes that the broad scope, flexibility and adaptability of the consumer protection provisions of the Act have served Australia well over the last three decades and it continues to provide an effective foundation for protecting the rights of Australians in many areas. There are however a number of possible refinements that could be made to the consumer framework to enhance its operation."

The ACCC's submission provides an overview of the Act and its role in fair trading and consumer protection law, and makes a number of recommendations about how the laws could be improved including:

• the introduction of civil pecuniary penalties and banning orders for breaches of the consumer protection and fair trading provisions of the Trade Practices Act
• amendments to the Act to reduce administrative burdens associated with obtaining redress for consumers
• enhancing the ACCC's investigative tools, in particular by enabling it to issue notices to traders requiring them to provide substantiation of advertising claims and allowing it to use its existing section 155 investigation and evidence gathering powers in certain circumstances, and
• development of uniform consumer protection and fair trading laws across states, territories and the Commonwealth and improving the level of cooperation between Commonwealth, State and Territory agencies in administering those laws.

The ACCC welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Productivity Commission inquiry. Copies of the ACCC submission will be available on the ACCC website.