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Current Issues for Consumer Protection Law in Australia

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Consumer Law and Socioeconomic Development

Abstract

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is being reviewed in 2016. The review is being undertaken by the Commonwealth Department of Treasury pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement at the time of the new national framework.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Intergovernmental Agreement for the Australian Consumer law July 2009 para E. www.coag.gov.au/sites/default/files/ICA-australian-consumer-law.pdf.

    There are now documents to support this Review: A national Consumer Survey to assess consumer and business perceptions and the effectiveness of the laws and regulatory framework. http://consumerlaw.gov.au/australian-consumer-survey/; An Issues Paper, March 2016 and a Comparative analysis of Overseas Consumer Policy Frameworks, April 2016 http://consumerlaw.gov.au/review-of-the-australian-consumer-law/about-the-review/.

  2. 2.

    Commonwealth of Australia (2014).

  3. 3.

    See Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs (2009).

  4. 4.

    Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) s 131A. The TPA used to apply to the whole of the economy including financial services. Financial services were carved out in 1989.

  5. 5.

    Australian Government (2006).

  6. 6.

    Committee of Inquiry into National Competition Policy (1993), Australian Government Productivity Commission (2005).

  7. 7.

    Australian Government Productivity Commission (2004), Australian Government Productivity Commission Review of the Australian Consumer Product Safety System Productivity Commission Discussion Draft July 2005; Productivity Commission (2005), Review of National Competition Policy Reforms Productivity Commission Inquiry Report No 33; Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs (2006), Productivity Commission (2008b).

  8. 8.

    Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs (2009), p. 9.

  9. 9.

    Australian Government Productivity Commission (2005).

  10. 10.

    Australian Government Productivity Commission (2005), Review of the Australian Consumer Product Safety System Productivity Commission Discussion Draft, July.

  11. 11.

    Productivity Commission (2008b).

  12. 12.

    Cable v. Sinclair [1788] NSWKR 7; [1788] NSWSupC 7 http://www.law.mq.edu.au/research/colonial_case_law/nsw/cases/case_index/1788/cable_v_sinclair/ .

  13. 13.

    Commonwealth of Australia (2015), p. 300.

  14. 14.

    Australian Government Productivity Commission (2005), p. XX1.

  15. 15.

    ACL s 23. The amendments come into effect in November 2016.

  16. 16.

    Productivity Commission (2008b). See especially Terms of Reference.

  17. 17.

    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Woolworths Limited [2016] FCA 44.

  18. 18.

    ACL s 219.

  19. 19.

    Productivity Commission (2016).

  20. 20.

    https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/australian-competition-consumer-commission/compliance-enforcement-policy; Renouf and Balgi (2013), http://consumeraction.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/CALC-Regulator-Report-FINAL-eVersion.pdf.

    The Productivity Commission is currently undertaking an assessment of the multi-regulator framework: http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/consumer-law.

  21. 21.

    Productivity Commission (2014), Access to Justice Arrangements Report No 72.

  22. 22.

    Australian Consumer Survey, 2016 http://consumerlaw.gov.au/australian-consumer-survey/.

  23. 23.

    ACL ss237, 238.

  24. 24.

    The legislation is structured to create separate but identical obligations with either civil or criminal consequences. On civil penalties in Australia, see Australian Law Reform Commission (2001).

  25. 25.

    Commonwealth of Australia v Director, Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate; Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union v Director, Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate [2015] HCA 46 at [16], [17], [22], [24].

  26. 26.

    See, for instance, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd [2014] FCA 1405.

  27. 27.

    ACCC Consultation Paper International Standards Associations: Consumer product safety May 2016 https://consultation.accc.gov.au/product-safety/international-standards/supporting_documents/Consultation%20paper%20%20International%20standards%20associations%20%20April%202016.pdf; Commonwealth of Australia Competition Policy Review Final Report March 2015 (Harper Review) Recommendation 10.

  28. 28.

    ACL s 131. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Woolworths Limited [2016] FCA 44.

  29. 29.

    ACL s 104, s 105.

  30. 30.

    ACL s 105 (1). On the role of Standards Australia, see Commonwealth of Australia (2015), Box 10.8 p. 136.

  31. 31.

    Standards Australia Forum on AS/NZS 1698: 2006 Protective helmets for vehicle users February 19 2015; Rod Sims, Chairman ACCC(2015), Keynote Presentation: Australasian Consumer Law Roundtable 2015 1 December.

  32. 32.

    See Paterson (2013), Productivity Commission (2008a), p. 141.

  33. 33.

    Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) Schedule 2 s 64. But note s 64A.

  34. 34.

    The state of Sale of Goods Acts retain implied terms.

  35. 35.

    ACL s 59.

  36. 36.

    ACL s 102; Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Fisher & Paykel Customer Services Pty Ltd [2014] FCA 1393.

  37. 37.

    ACL ss 259–263.

  38. 38.

    ACL s 29. See, for example, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Avitalb Pty Ltd [2014] FCA 222.

  39. 39.

    Google Inc v Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [2013] HCA 1.

  40. 40.

    http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/buying-or-selling/online-shopping-scams.

  41. 41.

    Commonwealth of Australia (2014), p. 188.

  42. 42.

    Commonwealth of Australia (2015), p. 303.

  43. 43.

    Paciocco v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited [2016] HCA 28.

  44. 44.

    This is a self-regulatory industry funded service. Membership of an ADR scheme is a condition of holding an Australian Financial Services License.

  45. 45.

    Commonwealth of Australia (2014), Recommendation 21.

  46. 46.

    See ACL s 2; Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) s 4(1), s 5. This is similar to the situation with the old Trade Practices Act.

  47. 47.

    Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) s 5.

  48. 48.

    Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) s 4(1).

  49. 49.

    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Valve Corporation (No 3) [2016] FCA 196.

  50. 50.

    ACL s 67; Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Valve Corporation (No 3) [2016] FCA 196.

  51. 51.

    Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Valve Corporation (No 3) [2016] FCA 196.

  52. 52.

    Akai Pty Ltd v People’s Insurance Company Limited [1996] HCA 39; 188 CLR 418 at 433; Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Valve Corporation (No 3) [2016] FCA 196 at [117].

  53. 53.

    Deloitte Access Economics The sharing economy and the Competition and Consumer Act, ACCC 2015 p vii.

  54. 54.

    https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/international-relations/treaties-agreements.

  55. 55.

    http://www.icpen.org/.

  56. 56.

    ASIC Regulatory Guide 54 Principles for Cross Border Regulation June 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Gail Pearson

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  1. Faculty of Law, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Claudia Lima Marques

  2. Faculty of Law, University of Macau, Macau, Macao

    Dan Wei

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Pearson, G. (2017). Current Issues for Consumer Protection Law in Australia. In: Lima Marques, C., Wei, D. (eds) Consumer Law and Socioeconomic Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55624-6_15

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