Far North Queensland's Yarrabah Aboriginal Community and the National Indigenous Consumer Strategy (NICS) will host its annual consumer law regulator conference on Tuesday 31 July 2018.
NICS members, which include the ACCC, ASIC, state and territory fair trading agencies and the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network (ICAN), will hear from community representatives on issues including obstacles to consumer empowerment as well as recognising culture and history.
“NICS and the ACCC’s focus is to ensure outcomes are developed collaboratively with Indigenous consumers,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
“We are committed to empowering Indigenous Australians around their consumer law rights, including improved access to consumer protection services.”
“The ACCC has continued to expand its work in Indigenous consumer protection. This includes recent initiatives like the ‘Do Not Knock informed’ communities program and enforcement action against fake indigenous art,” Ms Rickard said.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to speak to Indigenous consumers directly about the challenges they face in asserting their consumer rights and to discuss potential solutions,” Ms Rickard said.
“The Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council welcomes the opportunity to engage more and to learn first-hand from regulators and we look forward to the visit. We think it is a great opportunity to showcase our strong partnerships between the Commonwealth, state and territory regulators to meet in Yarrabah around consumer protection,” Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor, Ross Andrews said.
The Yarrabah conference will conclude with a community ‘Yarnin’ Session’, complete with refreshments on the Regional Training Centre lawn on Noble Street, Yarrabah.
The ACCC, on behalf of all NICS members, express their gratitude to the Gunggandji people, the traditional owners of Yarrabah, for welcoming them to their country.
The full National Indigenous Consumer Strategy Action Plan 2017–2019 is available at: National Indigenous Consumer Strategy.