HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-06-05 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

Bills

Fair Trading (Gift Cards) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 31 May 2018.)

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:01): I rise to speak to the Fair Trading (Gift Cards) Amendment Bill 2018. This is another bill that fulfils one of the Marshall Liberal government's excellent election commitments to protect consumers by ensuring that gift cards have a three-year expiry date. The reason we are doing this is because across Australia we lose approximately $200 million annually on expired gift cards.

The terms and conditions of gift cards may differ greatly, with typical redeeming periods between three and 12 months. Some larger companies, such as Bunnings and Apple, just to name a couple, do not have expiry dates on their gift cards. By putting into legislation a three-year expiry date, we are protecting consumers from unjustifiable and unfair expiry dates and balancing this appropriately with the needs of business.

The bill forms part of a series of amendments that we are putting through the parliament to the Fair Trading Act designed to increase consumer rights and protections. It also is part of the broader government agenda of modernising regulations and reducing red tape. What we are doing with this legislation is protecting consumers by ensuring that gift cards have a minimum three-year expiry date. It is intended that this would not apply to reward or loyalty programs or a voucher donated for charitable purposes; however, these exemptions would form part of the regulations to be drafted in consultation with business, subject to the bill's passing.

This legislation is modelled on New South Wales legislation, which commenced earlier this year and legislated for a three-year expiry date. Consumer and Business Services will be responsible for enforcement and compliance. In regard to the education program around this, funding for a public education program in respect of these changes is being sought in a subsequent bill to address ticket scalping, which we will address later this sitting week. The effect on business is expected to be negligible.

With regard to some further commentary around this bill, given federal constitutional guarantees, the bill does not apply to online or over-the-phone purchases where the gift card is delivered to an address outside of South Australian borders or the consumer is not ordinarily a resident of South Australia. Minimum expiry dates for gift cards is listed on the agenda for the national Consumer Affairs Australia and New Zealand meeting and, in addition, the federal government is considering adopting uniform laws to bring the country in line with the New South Wales legislation.

I do not think there would be anyone or any family who has not been involved in purchasing gift cards. I can remember several years ago I was driving around in my ute and I thought, 'What's that in the side tray of the door?' Sure enough, it was a gift card that was five years out of date. That would have been over the three-year limit, but it just goes to show how much money can be lost. As I said, hundreds of millions of dollars can be lost with gift cards that are not redeemed. Obviously, suppliers get paid for these so there is no loss to their budget. I guess there is a win to their budget if they do not have a redeemed gift card, for whatever gift it is, but it has been paid for so people should have more than enough opportunity to use that gift card regarding their purchasing at the time.

There are many things that can be put on gift cards. We heard an honourable member's address last week about his wife's purchases. That was a memorable contribution to this place. He also talked about how it would be handy to have a gift card for a tractor, but I have not heard of one of those yet. I think that was a suggestion from another member in this place. However, it is quite serious because sometimes you just do not know what to get for a niece or a nephew, a distant relation, a close relation or even your partner.

You just cannot think of the ideal thing so the easiest thing is to go down to a store—you might even get the store wrong—where you think they will be able to redeem something, whether it is a clothing item or something to do with music. Mind you, a lot of music now is just downloaded immediately, and sometimes not legally. That is another challenge in the world of purchasing but not something we are dealing with today.

It is a challenge and the sad thing is that people buy these gift cards in good faith because they certainly believe it is a good option for what they want to do and to make sure that someone can get an item that they desire. It can expand into wedding gifts as well. If you just do not know what to give a gift card can be produced. Talking about wedding gifts, the wedding registry program is something that my wife and myself went through.

I think I did one visit to the appropriate store—it might have been Myers, but I might be wrong—for potential items that we had put on the registry list. I met another person, an upcoming groom, and we had a conversation where we both agreed that we did not need to be back in Myers discussing this ever again. So I just left it up to my future wife to have a look at what we needed. I said, 'It's all yours. I don't need to trawl the shelves to see what we need to put on the list.'

That exemplifies why gift cards are such a necessity in this modern day and age. People just do not know what to get, so it is an easy thing to give. Sadly, because it is not a physical gift, apart from being something in an envelope or a card, it can too easily be put down. We live in a society where everything seems to be running at about 100 miles an hour, in the old language, and people do put things down. The gift card does not get redeemed and, sadly, the full benefit of it does not get used.

Some people may think this is something that is not worth the time to be debated in parliament, but I challenge that because, obviously, it is a big issue. It is worth $200 million across Australia, so it is something that needs to be fixed. Noting that there are discussions across the Tasman with New Zealand about having uniform legislation shows me that this is something that needs to be addressed. As we get older, people find it harder to work out what gift to give. I have a friend's 50th coming up, and I am trying to think of what they might require. It is probably a bit harder than—

The Hon. V.A. Chapman: A tractor.

Mr PEDERICK: Well, it will not be a tractor, Deputy Premier, or it might be a very small model one. I am sure he would appreciate that, being a farmer. It can even be a difficulty in your younger years. I have young boys who are already attending 18th birthday parties and there will be 21st birthdays coming up. You just do not know what the appropriate gift is to give to someone.

Good on the broad range of stores that give the option of buying a gift card because it means that, hopefully, someone will redeem it and buy the appropriate thing that they need. It is a win-win for everybody. You do not end up with a gift that may end up in the regifting cupboard, which some people may utilise. If you get two or three of something, or if it is something that might be a really nice gift that you do not need, you do not want to waste it, so it lands in a cupboard. It can sit there for decades if you are not careful, and it can be used at a later date when you find the appropriate person to give it to.

If we get this legislation right, we can cut down on the storage of not so much unwanted gifts but gifts that can be regifted because that does happen in real life. If anyone tells you they have never regifted something, I would question them severely. People can buy something they require. Obviously, it requires the person who receives the gift card to redeem it and acknowledge its worth. In the celebration of whatever they are celebrating at the time—whether it is a birthday, engagement, wedding or anniversary, or a significant event—they may not in the first instance think that it is great compared to what the parents have bought them: 'The parents have bought me a second-hand Yaris so I can drive to school.' Some get a new Yaris. Gift cards can be misplaced, but in the main many people appreciate them.

I note, as I said before, that bigger companies like Bunnings and Apple have no expiry limit on their gift cards, and perhaps that is what they can manage at that bigger store level. In saying that, the gift card has been purchased, so in my mind it should almost be like legal tender. A $10 note does not go off just because you have had it in your pocket for three years. It may have changed design or turned into a plastic note, with the new notes coming out. Essentially, a gift card is almost like legal tender. It has been purchased appropriately and should be able to be used to redeem goods to the value of whatever is on that gift card.

I do not know whether stores do this, but I am sure they would have a calculation on the percentage of gift cards that do not come back. I do not think they would be banking on that because, as I said, they already have the money and are more than happy to redeem goods for the value of that gift card. That can be a broad range of things, such as music items, hardware items or clothing items.

This legislation does not attract an impact on online orders that happen outside the state. There have been some interesting discussions at the federal level about Amazon.com. I agree with the federal Treasurer's stance that goods brought into this country should have a GST requirement put on them, because do not expect for one minute that Amazon does not have to deal with what happens with value-added tax in other countries. I am sure they do.

I think there is a bit of chest beating going on about that conversation at the moment. We will see how that pans out, with Amazon threatening to switch off Australian customers because, rightly or wrongly, people want goods that are not available in Australia. I think Australia has a great choice of goods that can be purchased either in person or with gift cards that can be produced for someone who is the receiver of the gift card to get those goods. We live in a dynamic world and there are opportunities for buying stuff overseas.

When I had the opportunity to go with the family to Canada and the United States, part of that was with work but we took the opportunity to buy a few pairs of cheap Levi jeans for the boys. When you get home and try to buy the same jeans online, Levi Strauss has a block on importing those jeans, so you either have to go back or organise someone to go shopping for you. That is just the difference in what goods may be priced at overseas.

I was intrigued with the different prices of things. I was discussing tractors earlier on in this contribution. When I was in North America, in Canada and in the United States, in 2011, the dollars were around equal value, whether it was US dollars or Australian dollars, and farm machinery was about half the value of what it is here. I know this is a bigger issue than gift cards, but I have been led into it a bit. The reason why some farmers will buy good second-hand equipment from North America—it does not please the Australian dealers, obviously—and import it themselves is the value for money. Whether or not they have issues around getting that equipment serviced is a matter they would have to deal with.

I struggle when something like a $140,000 eight-wheeled tractor from Canada suddenly turns into $280,000 in Australia and all it has done is had a ride on a ship for about a month to get it set up here. It is the same machine—they are all manufactured out of virtually the same place—but some people have different manufacturing plants across the world. In regard to this, I think this is going to be a great thing for consumers right across South Australia. Certainly a fair share of that $200 million that is lost annually across Australia would come out of the South Australian economy. If people are good enough to spend the money, we want the people who receive those gift cards to have the appropriate time.

As I indicated earlier, you can put them away, if you are at a function or whatever—let's say it is a birthday—and you put all your presents away. There might be some refreshments you have been given and you store them away in the bar or whatever. There might be some other useful items that you put somewhere in your house, and then somewhere in the chaos and the rush of life, the gift cards just get put down somewhere, they get moved, and after they get moved once, they disappear. I think this is sensible legislation. I appreciate the debate that has gone on so far in this place. I look forward to the ongoing debate and the bill's speedy passage through the house.

Mr DULUK (Waite) (11:21): I also rise to say a few words on this important bit of legislation, the Fair Trading (Gift Cards) Amendment Bill 2018. It is a simple bill, but it is a bill that goes a long way to delivering on the Marshall government's election promises. On this side of the house, we are determined to deliver on our election promises because we know that is so important to the people of South Australia for them to have confidence in their new government and in the body politic that says we are going to do something we said were going to do.

We went to the election with our policy to introduce this legislation, and that is exactly what we are doing. We believe in giving power back to the shoppers in South Australia and this bit of legislation reforms the current consumer protection; indeed, it enhances the current consumer protection. The bill amends the Fair Trading Act 1987 to require that any gift card sold in South Australia must have a minimum expiry date of three years.

As I said, this is a bit of legislation which we said we would bring in in our first 100 days, as we are introducing so many of our 100-day plans. This is certainly one in the consumer protection space. So why are we doing this? Why do we think this is an important issue that we need to deal with? It is about choice and it is about empowering mum-and-dad South Australians. We are going to see a whole raft of legislation introduced by this new Marshall government that is about choice, about the individual, and today's legislation is part of that. Looking at the deregulation of shopping hours is another key policy that is overwhelmingly supported by the people of South Australia. For those who need to know, the people of South Australia are not just Josh Peak and the SDA, they are actually the broader electorate.

This sort of consumer protection legislation is very important. According to a Choice survey, Australians spend about $2.5 billion every year on gift cards. That survey also found that a third of respondents had lost the full value of at least one gift card in the previous three years. Give or take, it appears that Australians are losing approximately $200 million every year in unredeemed gift cards. This is quite a lot of money, and if the government can do a little bit to guarantee consumer rights, I think that is something that is fundamentally important.

As I said, Australians lose approximately $200 million annually on expired gift cards. The terms and conditions of gift cards may differ greatly, with typical redeeming periods of between three and 12 months as they exist at the moment. Some larger companies such as Bunnings and Apple do not have expiry dates. We are obviously looking for a bit of consistency for consumers in South Australia, and I think that is really important.

I think the member for Hammond, in his contribution, touched on gift cards being the modern-day cash equivalent. If I hark back to my days growing up as a young kid, one thing that I enjoyed every Christmas was going to see grandma and getting the Christmas card; in there was—

The Hon. C.L. Wingard: How much? How much?

Mr DULUK: I think we got up to $10 once and a block of Cadbury chocolate, and we knew we were doing well. Inflation was on the rise when we got up to $20 in the Christmas card.

The Hon. C.L. Wingard: I used to get $2 notes.

Mr DULUK: The member for Gibson reflects that he got $2, but I would say that is for time value of money. I do not even know whether the $2 coin was minted then! I digress, but for people like my grandma cash was king, and I am sure that applied for the member for Hartley's household as well. Cash was king, and really the modern gift card is now essentially grandma's cash in a modern form. I think it is important that legislation reflects the change of use in the way that gifts, whether they be cash or cards, are circulated for consumers in South Australia. So I think bringing in this three-year period is quite important.

By legislating for a three-year expiry date, we are protecting consumers from unjustifiable and unfair expiry dates and balancing this appropriately with the needs of businesses, which of course have a requirement to hold stock and a requirement for a liability that is obviously drawn on the balance sheet.

As I said, this bill forms a part of a series of amendments to the Fair Trading Act designed to increase consumer rights and protections, and it is also part of the broader government agenda of modernising regulations and reducing red tape. I think this is going to be an area where we are going to see a lot more improvements from the Marshall Liberal government and from the minister for consumer and business affairs. For the last 16 years we have seen South Australian business strangled by bureaucratic red tape.

On the way to parliament this morning I was listening to FIVEaa and Leon Byner, who was talking about a resident who had the EPA and local council both go and see them to talk about noise complaints as part of their regime. The point was made that South Australians are just being crippled by bureaucracy and red tape. So many functions of the everyday lives of South Australians, from collecting waste through your council all the way to purchasing gift cards or just interacting with government departments, are layered and layered with bureaucracy.

There is a cost to this. The cost is time, the cost is wages and the cost is inefficiencies. The role of government—and very much the role of government from a Liberal perspective—is to do everything we can to remove these bureaucracies from the lives of South Australians. Government should be, in a way, seen and not heard. When it comes to consumer protection and red tape reduction and compliance, I think that is something that very much needs to be a key focus point for this government. And it will be a key focus point of this government to ensure that South Australians can just go about their day-to-day business without worrying about some inspector, some bureaucracy, some government agency telling them that they feel they know what is best for them, which inevitably they do not.

In terms of the bill before us today, it is intended that our changes would not apply to reward or loyalty programs or vouchers donated for charitable purposes. However, these exemptions would form part of the regulations to be drafted in consultation with business, subject to the bill's passing. I think that is a really important part—that we are going to do proper consultation with industry on this matter, because that is also what the Marshall Liberal government is on about. It is about consultation. It is about working with business and those impacted groups for the benefit of society.

The bill that we are debating today is modelled on New South Wales legislation, which commenced earlier this year and which also legislated for a three-year expiry date. Consumer and Business Services will be responsible for enforcement and compliance in this area, which is appropriate. It is part of a broader range of measures which are important, and it is our expectation that the effect on business will be negligible. As I said, we do not want to impact on businesses unnecessarily.

This reform makes gift cards more consumer-friendly by ensuring that any gift cards sold in the state have a minimum three-year expiry date, and it forms part of our broader suite of measures around fair trading. It is also worth including in this debate the fact that, given federal constitution guarantees, this bill does not apply to online or over-the-phone purchases, where the gift card is delivered to an address outside of South Australian borders or the consumer is not an ordinary resident of South Australia.

It is important to talk about some of the federal implications because at the moment we are seeing a debate where the federal government has brought in GST on online purchases around the $1,000 mark, and at the moment we are seeing Amazon trying to work their way around this new federal legislation. It is vitally important that we have a level playing field, whether it be at our state level or federally in the case of GST, and I commend Treasurer Morrison for tackling this issue and having GST on online purchases.

If companies such as Amazon feel they are being unfairly handled, then bad luck; they do not have to sell their products here through their portals. We want to ensure that with all trading entities in South Australia and Australia, no matter whether you walk in and buy a gift card from Mitre 10 in Blackwood or whether you are purchasing something from Amazon being delivered to a residence in Mitcham in my electorate, we are all covered under the same law and same jurisdiction.

It is very important for bricks and mortar businesses and small traders who have gone out and perhaps have a rental, a presence, in a strip mall—whether that be Main Road in Blackwood or at Mitcham Square village shops—that they have the entitlement to trade and participate in the economy equally and under the same rules and regulations as online does. Bringing some uniformity to this area is very important, and I have no doubt that the Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs and the Deputy Premier will, at COAG, be ensuring that all businesses are treated equally in this respect, that the big international players do not feel they are above the law or above the consumer—ultimately the most important part of our system.

Minimum expiry dates for gift cards is listed on the agenda for the national Consumer Affairs Australia and New Zealand meeting. Quite often, New Zealand, through their jurisdictions, sits as a by player to COAG as well, to observe the important legislation that comes before Australian parliaments and ensure that we get consistency. I think we can also learn, as Australian jurisdictions within our federation, from our cousins across the ditch, and see what their best practice is.

Over the last 10 or so years of the former John Key-Bill English governments they certainly embarked on a very big deregulation agenda, one that was really focused on small business. Deregulation was the hallmark of that John Key National government, and if you look at the New Zealand economy over the last five, 10, 15 years it has gone from strength to strength on the back of small business, reducing red tape, reducing business taxation, and driving its key economic indicators.

Of course, New Zealand is a country that does not actually have any natural products and imports quite a lot of its raw materials. It does not have a car manufacturing industry either, and imports all its motor vehicles. However, in our region New Zealand has gone above and beyond on the deregulation path and their economy has gone from strength to strength.

Having minimum dates for gift cards listed on the agenda for the national consumer affairs meeting for Australia and New Zealand, in addition to what the federal government is considering in adopting uniform laws, really brings South Australia in line with what is happening across other jurisdictions. It is important that South Australia and this Marshall Liberal government ensure that we are on top of fair trading lines across the nation and that we remain relevant in terms of where it is.

As I said, it is very important that consumers have protection in terms of gift cards. I have certainly been the beneficiary of a David Jones or Myer gift card and forgotten to redeem it. My sister, who normally gives me a gift card at Christmas because she is sometimes a bit tardy in her purchases, says, 'Sam—

The Hon. C.L. Wingard: Time poor.

Mr DULUK: Very time poor. Generation Y, millennials, are indeed time poor, and it is a waste of $100 when a consumer does not redeem the card. It is much unlike me not to redeem a gift card, but it does happen from time to time as we all become very time poor. As I said from the outset, this legislation is designed to protect the consumer, and that is what it needs to be about. Looking at the broader part of consumer protection, a lot needs to be done. Too often, we have seen unscrupulous businesses use vulnerable and at times unsuspecting consumers, and ensuring that education process that protects the consumer is vitally important.

Gift cards continue to grow. Australians spend almost $2.5 billion a year on gift cards, and that is a huge outlay of investment. To put it in some broader context, the South Australian government spends about $6 billion a year on health, and rightly so, and Australians spend $2½ billion on gift cards so it is appropriate that there is an element of regulation and consumer protection around this. With those words, I commend the bill to the house, and I look forward to its passage through this place.

Ms HABIB (Elder) (11:37): Prior to the election, we promised that a Marshall Liberal government would legislate to protect consumers by ensuring that gift cards purchased in South Australia would be required to have a minimum expiry date of three years. We believe consumers deserve to get what they pay for without unnecessary restrictions, meaning that businesses retain cash without consumers receiving a good or service that has ultimately been paid for.

A minimum three-year expiry date on gift cards will provide certainty for all consumers and businesses about their rights and obligations. This has already been successfully introduced in New South Wales. The three-year expiry would apply to all gift cards sold in South Australia to a person residing in South Australia at the time of purchase. Why are we doing this? According to consumer advocate group, Choice, Australians are losing approximately $200 million each year in unredeemed gift cards.

A number of members of the house have spoken about how they have lost the benefit of their gift cards due to the passing of an expiry date, and I am sure they have contributed to that amount of $200 million that consumers are losing each year in unredeemed gift cards. Australians spend about $2.5 billion a year on the cards, but a Choice survey found that around a third of respondents had lost the full value of at least one gift card in the previous three years.

Gift cards are essentially putting terms and conditions on cash which, without appropriate consumer protections, can result in consumers experiencing genuine financial loss. That is certainly not what we need in South Australia with the rising cost-of-living pressures putting a lot of undue stress on families across our state. Some consumers simply forget to use the gift cards in time or find that the expiry dates are simply too tight for them. This can be a particular issue for people in regional and remote areas where they do not have such ready access to stores, and a few of our regional members spoke about that last week.

Australian Consumer Law does not currently prescribe a minimum expiry date on gift cards, resulting in not only a short expiry date on many cards but also an increasing variety in the range of expiry dates on gift cards, making it additionally confusing for consumers. For example, prepaid Visa cards can have an expiry of up to five years. Gift cards for retailers such as Bunnings and Apple do not have expiry dates at all, while some vouchers have an expiry date of as little as three months.

This bill will protect consumers by ensuring that gift cards have a minimum three-year expiry date. As mentioned, it is modelled on the New South Wales legislation that commenced earlier this year and has similarly prescribed a three-year expiry date for all gift vouchers. I think this is an important bill not only for protecting consumer rights but also highlighting our commitment as a government to delivering on all the election promises that we brought to the South Australian people prior to 17 March.

Finally, in closing, I would like to make a comment that we have considered what kind of effect this will have on businesses. As I am sure you are aware, we are absolutely committed to supporting businesses to grow in South Australia to create more jobs for our state. I am proud to report that the effect of a minimum three-year expiry date for gift cards will have a very negligible effect on businesses. I commend this bill to the house.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (11:41): I would like to thank all members for their contribution to this bill. I must say it has been an era of enlightenment for me in understanding the shopping habits of my colleagues on both sides of the house. It has certainly been illuminating and entertaining, and I thank them for their contribution. As the minister covering Consumer and Business Services, I probably should offer some of my colleagues a link to a line for help when people become addicted to shopping; nevertheless, I am happy to assist should they need some advice or counselling in that regard.

As to the contribution on tractors, that has been wide and varying, initiated playfully by the member for Finniss. I place on the record that, as a result of personal circumstances, I am now the owner of six tractors. One of them was sold to my father many years ago by Olsen and Co. at Kadina. It is still going, as I have reminded the Hon. John Olsen, who is a former premier of the state and now President of the Liberal Party. It is still effective. It has a hydraulic attachment for post-hole digging, and I have to say it has worked pretty well for the last 35 or 40 years. They are a very good present, if anyone has it in mind. In fact, I might even create a voucher to hand it on to somebody else, but unfortunately it might fall into the category of those that are passed on and not redeemed by the original giftee.

I particularly thank the member for Enfield for his contribution. Of course, as usual, it had nothing to do with the bill before us, but he did alert the house to his failure to advance payday lending regulation at the council of consumer and business service ministers during the term of his office. That is regrettable. Matters were placed on the agenda and never saw the light of day, and sometimes I thought that was probably the deliberate purpose.

I would often hear in the house the member for Enfield, when he was the minister, tell us the significance of reform being progressed at a national level that would be ineffective if it was dealt with at a state level. The next day, he might come into the house and explain to us why he was advancing something at the state level because nothing was happening at the national level. That inconsistency aside, clearly he felt that it was not sufficiently prudent to advance state regulatory review or reform for predatory payday lending.

As many members know, it is often referred to as a facility for people with their back against the wall financially who find themselves in an impecunious state, desperate to meet their financial obligations, but they are still a few days away from their payday in that fortnight or month or whatever period for which they are to be paid. They then find themselves vulnerable to the money-lending sharks who are happy to offer them interim funding but at an extortionate rate of interest and on terms of repayment that are unconscionable. We understand this exists and, clearly, it should be addressed.

I will follow up his suggestion that, when the ministers for consumer and business services meet later this year, which I understand is in or about October, we find out what has happened to that. This government will, at the very least, if it has not progressed or is not likely to progress, undertake to review what has happened to it and what we should be doing to protect South Australians, if in fact it is found that this is such a detriment to those in vulnerable circumstances. We are a government that cares about consumers and ensuring that they are protected, but it means nothing without the protective umbrella of a statute or regulation for that purpose.

For that very reason, we have initiated ticket-scalping laws—because of the failure of the former government to implement their own model, which is under a declaration process. That is a bill which is going to be canvassed before this parliament and which indicates the significance of the government's commitment to ensuring that we protect consumers in circumstances where people are victims because they cannot access tickets because somebody else has come in under a scheme, the bot schemes, and which, of course, the Minister for Police is going to clearly outline in his contribution to the debate in due course.

We see it as important to protect consumers in this space to enable them to have reasonable access to buy a ticket to go to their important occasion, whether it is a sporting event, lots of concerts or a car race—I am not really interested in car racing myself, but, nevertheless, plenty of people are. These are important things: to protect the consumer to get access to and to get access at a fair price.

In any event, some uncertainty has been raised in this debate around the reach of these reforms with respect to their application and the jurisdiction of the bill, which I will now seek to clarify. Importantly, these reforms go to the heart of protecting South Australian consumers. As such, you will note that the intended application of these reforms relates to businesses that sell gift cards to South Australian consumers, whether the business is physically located in South Australia or operating online.

I thank members for raising these matters because they are important questions to be raised. Perhaps I will, therefore, outline as best we are informed on this matter at this stage. The bill applies where the gift card is sold to a consumer online or by phone where the gift card is to be delivered to the consumer at a South Australian address or the contact details of the consumer provided in connection with the sale of the gift card include a South Australian residential address.

To clarify, however, the bill does not specifically exclude international companies. The bill aims to protect South Australian consumers and to make gift cards more consumer friendly. The reforms will apply to international and interstate businesses, insofar as a consumer in South Australia is able to purchase gift cards from that business. The offence occurs if a gift card is sold to a consumer in South Australia with an expiry date of less than three years. I am advised it does not matter where the seller or the business selling is located.

The concerns raised regarding international companies choosing not to do business in South Australia are noted; however, it is also worth noting that a three-year minimum expiry date is where we are heading nationally. This bill streamlines the diverse practices of businesses and is consistent with the enhanced consumer protections recently introduced in New South Wales.

Further, specifically excluding international companies from these reforms may have a detrimental impact on South Australian consumers by enabling companies with an international arm to circumvent these important consumer protections. As far as enforcement of the legislation as it relates to international companies, this is a practical issue and not one that the drafting of the legislation can address. States and territories are more than familiar with the enforcement difficulties where the offender is located outside of that jurisdiction, particularly overseas. In fact, this problem is becoming quite common with the growth of online transactions involving businesses that have no physical presence in Australia, let alone South Australia.

I can only urge members, if they are providing advice to their constituents in relation to the application and effectiveness of this legislation, if they are purchasing a gift card for someone that they wish to offer that service and meet the cost of, when they are buying their gift card, to consider whether they are acquiring it from an entity which is in South Australia, especially if that gift card is going to be provided as a gift.

Mr Picton: How are they meant to know that?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: I just urge any members who have inquiries about this matter to ensure, as best they can, if they want to protect themselves in these circumstances, to buy local. That is all I can suggest at this point. The parliament has the commitment of the government of trying to deal with these matters at a national level and we will progress that, as has been identified. However, there are inherent risks for consumers in dealing with businesses online that have their headquarters in another country or operate outside of South Australia. As best we can, this bill demonstrates the government's commitment to increasing consumer protection for South Australians so that consumers get what they paid for without time restrictions that limit their purchase liability.

I remind members that this does not apply to the unused expired gift cards that any of you may have in the bottom drawer at home, so do not think that because of this advance of legislation that you can redeem those—they are dead and gone. Regrettably for you, they form part of the $200 million a year that are left unredeemed in Australia, which is what we are attempting to remedy.

With respect to the application of these reforms as they relate to specific goods or services, I would like to reassure members that the government will consult on appropriate exemptions in the regulations. I touched on this previously and, as noted in my second reading speech, this may include temporary marketing promotions, loyalty reward programs or vouchers supplied for a charitable purpose.

It has been a long time since I have purchased one of those books provided by charities. They usually have a number of vouchers for petrol, meals, hairdressing and other things in a book and may relate to a whole range of different services. I think the last time I bought one you could get an extra tyre if you bought three and these types of things, but you got a discount arrangement if you patronised certain businesses that had committed to the charity and were in their book.

We are not attempting to place any obligation in respect of those. They have an expiry date usually at the end of that year and then, of course, often as part of their own charitable fundraising, they publish a new book for the following year and, of course, you pay your $100, $200 or whatever, and have the opportunity to acquire those services within that time limit. It is not intended that they be captured or that they be prejudiced by this legislation.

I think it is fair to say that when some people buy those types of booklets to support a charity it is for that purpose. They present their funds, probably knowing at the time of purchase that they may not exercise the opportunity that is being offered through that discounting, certainly not for the whole book, but in any event they do it because they want to make a contribution to that charitable organisation.

I thank all members for their contributions. I look forward to progressing this bill and to future consultation with the key interested parties on implementation and proposed exemptions, and to further engaging on achieving a national solution, which I look forward to being able to report back to the house on.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (11:56): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT