Organisations that provide

assistance for consumers

As an active and assertive consumer it is important to
be aware of your rights and to know where you can gain
extra help if you need it. In Australia, legal assistance
for consumers can be obtained from government
authorities at the national and state levels as well as from
independent associations around the country. Each of
these organisations has a website that is easy to access
and contains a wealth of legal advice for consumers. The
important authorities and independent organisations are
outlined below.

State government authorities

The Office of Fair Trading aims to protect consumer rights
in New South Wales and provide advice for businesses
about fair and ethical retail practices. One of the key
jobs of the Office of Fair Trading is to administer the
rules that ensure transactions between consumers and
traders (businesses) are fair. It investigates unfair business
practices and operates a licensing system to ensure that
employees in a range of NSW industries are appropriately
qualified. The office administers more than 80 state laws
that protect consumer rights in New South Wales. These
laws cover issues ranging from door-to-door sales and
credit to electrical safety and motor vehicle repairs. The
offices website contains details about each of these laws.
The Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) is
a NSW court that aims to resolve consumer-related
disputes as well as trader and tenancy-based matters
(those involving rental property and housing). The CTTT
deals with matters under eight main categories: home
building, residential parks, motor vehicles, retirement
villages, tenancy (housing) issues, commercial matters,
general consumer issues, and strata and community
schemes. There is a small fee to lodge an application.
A discounted fee applies to students and pensioners.
Court hearings are conducted in over 140 venues in New
South Wales. The NSW Office of Fair Trading can refer
consumers to the tribunal.

Federal government departments

The Australian Competition and Consumer Policy Division
within the Department of Treasury aims to protect and
promote the power of consumers; that is, ensure consumer
sovereignty. This involves a range of tasks, including
changing consumer protection laws, providing education
and information, representing consumers and addressing
product safety and product information standards.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which we discussed earlier, is another federal body
dealing with consumer concerns.

The ACCC handles issues such as anticompetitive

and unfair market practices, mergers or takeovers of
companies and product safety/liability. The ACCC is the
only national agency dealing generally with competition
matters in Australia.

Ombudsmen
If you experience problems in your dealings with a
government department you will need to contact the
ombudsman. The ombudsman is an independent official
who has been appointed to deal with complaints against
either government departments or private businesses. In
Australia, there is a Commonwealth ombudsman as well
as state and territory ombudsmen.
A number of ombudsmen have been established within
various industries to help settle disputes between
consumers and businesses. Industry ombudsmen
are common in areas of the economy that were
previously owned or regulated by governments, such as
telecommunications, banking, energy and insurance.

Independent organisations
Australian Consumers Association
The Australian Consumers Association (ACA) is a nonprofit organisation that aims to provide consumers
with information and guidance about goods, services,
health and personal finances. The ACA is completely
independent and does not receive money from political
sources, businesses, unions or advertisers. As part of its
role, the ACA conducts tests on products and publishes
the test results in a monthly magazine, CHOICE. It
also lobbies governments to make improvements to
consumer laws. Armed with the ACAs information
and assistance, individuals can make more informed
consumer decisions.
Other organisations
There are also other organisations that provide product
quality and safety information to particular groups of
consumers in Australia. Kidsafe (the Child Accident
Prevention Foundation of Australia), for example, is a
non-profit, non-government organisation that provides
information about the safety of products in order to
prevent the unintentional injury or death of children.
Community organisations
A number of community-based organisations provide
assistance to consumers. These services include citizens
advice bureaus, financial counsellors, information and
referral services as well as community legal centres.

Consumer choice

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