Consumer Action Law Centre

Media Releases

6 October 2008: Time for Governments to close reckless lending loophole

Consumer Action Law Centre has today issued legal proceedings against a fringe lender that exploits loopholes in the law to take advantage of vulnerable consumers.

22 September 2008: Dodgy First Choice betting software scam should be your last choice

Consumer Action has warned Victorians to beware of computer betting software spruiker First Global Pty Ltd (trading as First Choice), after it today issued legal proceedings against the company.

17 September 2008: Bank fees unfair but no action from the senate

CHOICE and the Consumer Action Law Centre say they are extremely disappointed with the Senate Economics Committee’s failure to recommend new laws to protect consumers from unfair bank penalty fees.

12 September 2008: Consumer Action “king-hits” unlicensed motor car trader

Consumer Action has issued two legal proceedings against a Brunswick businessman alleging he is selling poor quality motor vehicles to consumers without a licence. Consumer Action is acting on behalf of two separate clients who each bought cars from Mr Richard King outside his business premises at 51 Weston Street, Brunswick. Both of our clients sought our help after they bought cars from Mr King which broke down within days of the sale.

15 August 2008: Australian report exposes psychological tricks used to market credit card limit increases

A landmark report released today by the Consumer Action Law Centre has exposed the different psychological manipulations used by banks and other lenders to persuade people to take up offers for higher credit card limits.

11 August 2008: Consumer Action welcomes privacy report’s fair and sensible approach to credit reporting and privacy reform

Consumer Action Law Centre today welcomed the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report into Australia’s privacy laws and practice. But it warned the Australian Government to remain on guard, because lenders and credit reporting agencies were unlikely to abandon their push to reduce privacy protections for individuals in order to increase their profits.

7 August 2008: Court attack launched on private car park’s “fines”

Consumer Action Law Centre has today instituted legal proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against Australian National Car Parks Pty Ltd, the operator of a number of private car parks around Victoria that have been charging consumers hefty “fines” for failing to display valid tickets.

11 July 2008: VCAT orders spruiker of computer gambling software to refund consumer

Consumer Action Law Centre has today succeeded in obtaining a refund from a spruiker of computer gambling software at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Reliance Investment Services Pty Ltd, a company based in Queensland which sells computerised gambling software under the guise of an investment product, was ordered to refund a Coburg resident $6,215 within 30 days.

10 July 2008: Consumer Action seeks orders against spruiker of online gambling software

Consumer Action Law Centre has instituted legal proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against Reliance Investment Services Pty Ltd, a spruiker of computer gambling software.

28 June 2008: Consumers Launch National Day of Action against Motor Finance Wizard

Consumer Action Law Centre is leading a campaign against unfair practices of motor car traders. Almost a quarter of all Consumer Action’s complaints about motor car traders and related finance over the last 12 months relate to one business – Motor Finance Wizard. Consumer advocates will be campaigning against the unfair practices of Motor Finance Wizard in three cities on 28 June 2008.

5 June 2008: Consumer Action launches litigation against Motor Finance Wizard

Consumer Action Law Centre has issued proceedings against Motor Finance Wizard (Melbourne Sales) Pty Ltd (“Motor Finance Wizard”) and Kwik Finance (Melb) Pty Ltd (“Kwik Finance”) in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on behalf of sole parent Ms Suzana Dominik.

29 May 2008: Consumer Action seeks orders against Australian Institute of Mathematics and Lombard Finance

Consumer Action Law Centre has instituted legal proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against Addsup Education trading as Australian Institute of Mathematics Victoria and Lombard Finance for breaches of the Fair Trading Act 1999 (Vic) on behalf of vulnerable consumers.

15 May 2008: Consumer win with unfair DebitSuccess contract

Consumer Action has obtained a favourable outcome for its client, a mother of two young children, who purchased self defence classes for her children from Albion Self Defence Academy using a DebitSuccess direct debit contract. The consumer was being pursued by DebitSuccess for a debt of almost $1,500 for classes that were not provided.

9 April 2008: Consumer Action alleges Debit Success contract contains unfair terms

Consumer Action has launched litigation in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against Debit Success (a company that organises direct debit agreements) and the Albion Self Defence Academy. We are arguing that a term of the contract that requires a consumer to pay for 12 months of self defence classes that were never used is unfair pursuant to the unfair contract term provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1999.

28 April 2008: Regional Water customers on drip feed, says Consumer Action

Consumer Action Law Centre has slammed a number of Victorian regional water businesses for unfairly restricting the water supply of consumers and initiating legal action in relation to small debts.

15 March 2008: Consumer Action puts traders and governments on notice

Consumer Action Law Centre has publicly released its Policy Plan 2008. The Policy Plan sets out Consumer Action’s priority campaigns, putting traders and governments on notice about what it wants for consumers.

1 March 2008: Consumer Action calls on car parks to be fair

Consumer Action Law Centre has written to two operators of private car parks in Melbourne seeking a review of their business practices and the installation of barriers so that consumers are not fined unfairly when they forget to obtain tickets.

29 February 2008: Finance broker flouts court orders

Consumer Action Law Centre has claimed that a finance broker Sample & Partners is flouting Federal Court orders.

22 February 2008: Customers to bear costs for energy retailer failure

Consumer Action Law Centre has labelled the decision by the Essential Services Commission to charge consumers should their retailer go bankrupt or leave the market as outrageous and unfair.

14 February 2008: Grocery unit pricing can help consumers deal with inflation

Consumer Action has today called on the Federal Government to legislate for mandatory unit pricing in Australian supermarkets, to help Australian consumers deal with increasing cost of groceries.

30 November 2007: Consumers challenge basis for rising energy prices

Victorian consumers will be hit by huge energy price increases from 1 January 2008 but without any public information about the basis for these price rises, said Consumer Action Law Centre today.

15 November 2007: Don't harass us, says consumers

Consumer Action Law Centre has today launched a campaign to assist consumers to avoid door-to-door marketers if they wish to do so. The campaign will distribute a Do Not Knock sticker, which warns sales representatives that they are in breach of the law if they knock on a door to which the sticker is affixed.

17 September 2007: Consumer Action welcomes a Parliamentary investigation into mortgage lending

Consumer Action has welcomed the recommendations to reform credit regulation, released today by the House of Representatives Economic, Finance and Public Administration Committee into Home Loan Lending.

4 September 2007:More Penalty fees cut as campaign gains momentum

CHOICE and Consumer Action have welcomed NAB’s announcement today it will cut direct debit dishonour fees from $50 to $30 and will launch a new mainstream transaction account that allows consumers to avoid bank penalty fees altogether.

13 August 2007: Water businesses not talking to customers, says consumer report

Consumer Action Law Centre has publicly released a report asserting that Victorian water businesses are not talking to their customers. The report, Water Reform in Victoria: Independent pricing regulation and its outcome for consumers, demonstrates that water businesses are not adequately consulting with their customers when setting prices for water.

19 June 2007: Nationwide campaign targets unfair bank penalty fees

Financial institutions are bracing themselves for a customer backlash against unfair penalty fees, after a nationwide campaign was launched today by CHOICE and Consumer Action Law Centre. Thousands of irate customers are expected to join the campaign demanding the immediate refund of penalty fees.

11 May 2007: Time well overdue for banks to cut their excessive penalty fees

Consumer Action Law Centre has written to the Australian Bankers Association and Abacus - Australian Mutuals demanding that banks, credit unions and building societies put a stop to penalty fees that impose unfair charges on consumers. The letters, sent jointly with CHOICE, are the latest salvo in the two consumer groups' campaign to stop the charging of unfair, excessive and unlawful penalty fees to Australian consumers.

17 April 2007: Appalling delays in handling privacy complaints are no secret

Consumer Action today revealed that it had been waiting almost a year for the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner to respond to two representative complaints about credit reporting that are thought to affect at least half a million Australians.

27 March 2007: Consumer Action supports Affordable Housing campaign

Consumer Action has announced its support for the Australians for Affordable Housing campaign launched today, saying it is rightly focussing on one of the biggest problems facing Australian families - the housing crisis.

28 February 2007: Consumer Action puts traders and government on notice

Unfair, excessive and unlawful bank penalty fees, reckless lending and dodgy motor car trading will all be put under the blow-torch this year, according to plans released today by the Consumer Action Law Centre.

19 February 2007: Warrnambool warned of Reverse Mortgages

Reverse mortgages have become popular with Warrnambool residents but there are some serious risks to watch out for, the Consumer Action Law Centre warned today.

18 August 2006: Consumers warned of Home Show Traps

CLCV & CCLS warned consumers at The Melbourne Home Show against getting caught out by high pressure selling tactics, and signing up to high-interest contracts with finance companies.

20 April 2006: Water businesses need to do more to help customers in hardship

Water businesses need to do more to help their customers experiencing hardship, to ensure Victorian consumers are not cut off from essential access to water, according to a new report launched by the CLCV.

13 February 2006: Electricity Reform in Victoria - Outcomes for Consumers

Poor and country consumers fare worse from Victoria’s privatisation of electricity than their city and big business counterparts on almost every measure considered in a new report by the Consumer Law Centre Victoria and Monash University’s Centre for the Study of Privatisation and Public Accountability.