The ACCC will re-think its approach to penalties for breaches of the competition law after an OECD report found that average Australian penalties are significantly lower than those imposed in other comparable OECD jurisdictions.
In his annual CEDA address, Chairman Rod Sims launched the ACCC's 2018 Compliance and Enforcement policy. This year, the ACCC will focus on consumer issues in broadband services and energy, competition in the financial services and commercial construction sectors, systemic consumer guarantee issues, and conduct that may contravene the new misuse of market power and concerted practices provisions.
Do you sell goods in Australia? Do you know when you can safely make a country of origin claim? Don’t get caught out! Watch this video to ensure your claim won’t raise concerns under the Australian Consumer Law.
With over 10 million passengers flying last December and January, the ACCC has today released a report Airlines: Terms and conditions ahead of the busy Christmas travel season to remind travellers of their rights.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims has delivered a warning to Australian firms: the competition watchdog is not going to protect them from competition.
Delivering a speech in Sydney today, Mr Sims outlined how the recently legislated changes to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA), especially s46, help the ACCC protect the competitive process by allowing firms, big and small, to compete on their merits.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims explains how recent changes to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA) help protect the competitive process, and why 2018 will be a great year for competition.
The ACCC is continuing to educate business and take enforcement action to ensure that small businesses receive the protections of the new unfair contract terms laws.
Since 12 November last year, when the laws were extended to small business contracts, the ACCC has taken successful court action against a major waste management company, JJ Richards & Sons Pty Ltd, for unfair contract terms including an automatic five-year rollover clause, a unilateral price variation term and a broad indemnity provision.
The ACCC has completed its investigation into ALDI’s ‘flushable’ wipes and will take no further action after ALDI stopped selling its personal hygiene wipes and removed potentially misleading claims from its bathroom cleaning wipes packaging.
In July this year, the ACCC raised concerns with ALDI regarding its promotion of certain ‘flushable’ wipes products. At the time, ALDI was promoting the Green Action Flushable Bathroom Cleaning Wipes (100pk) in its Special Buys catalogue.
Advanced Hair Studio Pty Ltd (Advanced Hair) will partly refund some customers who purchased the Advanced Laser Therapy Program between April 2015 and June 2017, following ACCC concerns that Advanced Hair’s contract contained terms that were unfair.
Advanced Hair supplies hair loss treatments and procedures including laser therapy as part of 3-12 month programs.
One of the cancellation clauses in Advanced Hair’s contracts required customers to pay the entire cost of the program even if they had attended only one or two laser sessions.
Davantage Group Pty Ltd trading as National Warranty Company (NWC) has agreed to make changes to its ‘Extension to Manufacturer’s Warranty’, which is primarily sold through used-vehicle dealerships, following concerns raised by the ACCC.
NWC’s extended warranties are available nationally through dealers for new and used vehicles. The ACCC investigated following concerns that NWC’s extended warranties had the potential to mislead consumers about the benefits, and need for, purchasing an extended warranty.
In particular, the ACCC was concerned that: