Consumer Acts

There are a number of consumer Acts in Australia that are, in theory, designed to protect consumers from the likes of rogues such as the CBA, the Macquarie Bank and the Bank of Queensland. This is fine in theory but in practise, even The Law has trouble interpreting some of these Acts. Certainly ASIC does because they always seem to be getting it wrong when they do finally litigate against anyone.Consumer laws need to be framed so that they are succinct and understandable rather than cloaked in a language that only the courts can understand. And then, even these get it wrong! It's time the Government stopped trying to be clever and spoke to the common people of Australia in language they can understand.

Because of the Storm debacle and other recent financial rorts, new consumer protection laws have now been put in place. It appears that our sacrifice has not been in vain after all. Cannon fodder springs readily to mind! 

For those that are still interested and have some money left, new consumer protection laws came into place across Australia on 1st January 201. "There are two major benefits to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, which replaces the Trade Practices Act as the main piece of legislation covering consumer rights and protection in Australia. They incorporate a nationally-agreed set of consumer protections, the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), meaning there’s now consistency in consumer protection strategies across all Australian states." 

If you believe the Government has got it right this time, go ahead and invest! Good luck is all I can say! 

See attachment below 'New consumer laws for Australia'