Online clothing label and retailer A&S Labels Pty Ltd (trading as Tiger Mist) has paid penalties of $26,640 after the ACCC issued it with two infringement notices for allegedly misleading consumers about their right to return faulty items.
ACCC Chair Rod Sims addressed the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) to discuss the ACCC's enforcement and compliance policies for 2022-23.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia has granted an order sought by the ACCC, declaring Mr Adam Wadi, formerly Get Qualified Australia Pty Ltd’s (GQA) sole director and CEO, bankrupt.
The declaration follows ACCC court action in 2016 which resulted in a ruling from the Federal Court in 2017 that GQA made false or misleading representations, engaged in unconscionable conduct, imposed an unfair contract term in its consumer contracts and entered into unsolicited consumer agreements.
The Federal Court has imposed a penalty of $1 million on workplace relations advisor Employsure Pty Ltd for breaching the Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading representations in its Google Ads, in proceedings brought by the ACCC.
In August 2021, the Full Federal Court unanimously upheld an appeal by the ACCC, finding that Employsure made false or misleading representations that it was, or was affiliated with, a government agency, when that was not the case.
Mosaic Brands Limited, an ASX listed company, has paid penalties totalling $630,000, and admitted that it breached the Australia Consumer Law in its promotion of pandemic-related ‘Health Essential Products’.
Mosaic Brands is the largest speciality fashion retail group in Australia. It owns well-known fashion brands Noni B, Autograph, BeMe, Crossroads, Katies, Millers, Rivers, Rockmans and W.Lane and operates about 1210 stores nationally.
The Federal Court has found that Google LLC and Google Australia Pty Ltd (together, Google) misled consumers about personal location data collected through Android mobile devices between January 2017 and December 2018, in a world-first enforcement action brought by the ACCC.
“This is an important victory for consumers, especially anyone concerned about their privacy online, as the Court’s decision sends a strong message to Google and others that big businesses must not mislead their customers,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
WT Howard Funeral Services and Coventry Funeral Homes, trading as Fitzgerald’s Funerals, have each paid $12,600 in penalties after the ACCC issued each of the businesses with an infringement notice for allegedly making a false and misleading representation about their ownership. This coincides with the release of an ACCC survey seeking further information about the experiences of consumers and businesses with the funeral services sector.
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010, which came into effect on 1 January 2011, was a significant legal and economic reform that heralded a new era in Australian consumer protection by introducing a single national consumer law and civil penalties, ACCC Chair Rod Sims said today.