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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-09 Daily Xml
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AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER LAW

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (15:00): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question about the new national consumer laws.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: Last year, new national consumer laws were passed in South Australia. The Australian Consumer Law is the national law which applied in South Australia as of 1 January 2011. The ACL includes national product safety laws and sets out the responsibilities of commonwealth, state and territory governments and suppliers. The ACL aims to protect consumers from unsafe goods and unsafe product-related services. Will the minister tell the chamber how South Australian consumers are being informed of the new laws?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for her important question. As I announced last week, South Australian shoppers are now protected by a new nation-wide consumer law designed to ensure that products are safe, contracts are fair and sales practices are sound. I am pleased to inform members that OCBA is undertaking radio and newspaper advertising here in South Australia as part of a broader program designed to educate and inform consumers. After all, a consumer who knows about their rights and is informed about those rights is much more likely to assert them and, of course, what this is all about is making sure that consumers do get a fair deal and that safe practices are ensured.

OCBA is working to teach both consumers and traders about the new protections that are now in place and also making them aware of the very tough new penalties for breaches of the law. As members may know, we now have a wide range of important new consumer protections in areas such as product safety, refunds and replacements, lay-bys, telemarketing and door-to-door sales through to unfair sales practices and unfair terms of contracts for a diverse range of products and services.

It is important to note that, should traders not abide by the new Australian Consumer Law, maximum penalties for breaches are up to $220,000 for individuals and $1.1 million for corporations. I would ask that all members help to ensure that South Australians are aware of the new laws. There are many ways to find this new information. That includes checking the information videos being made available on the OCBA website and visiting the new national Australian Consumer Law website for guidance on each of the major parts of the law. It is in plain language and there is also a subscriber service so that people can receive updates in an ongoing way. Consumers, of course, can also phone the government's consumer affairs office if they have questions or want to discuss a particular matter.

Consumers, of course, are not the only people who need to be aware of the new laws. It is important that traders are aware of their responsibilities. I am advised that OCBA has been working with South Australian traders since last year to raise awareness of key aspects of the new law and will continue to work with them to achieve maximum compliance. I hope that we can achieve a high level of awareness of the new consumer laws and the full cooperation of all traders in ensuring that they observe those new provisions.

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