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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-22 Daily Xml
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MINISTERIAL COUNCIL ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS

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 recent Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs has an objective to provide the best and most consistent protection for Australian and New Zealand consumers through its consideration of consumer affairs and fair trading issues of national significance and, where possible, the development of consistent approaches to those issues. Will the minister provide the chamber with an update on any developments that arose from the recent Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs?

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, Minister for Gambling) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for her important question. I am pleased to advise the chamber that on 3 June I was privileged to represent South Australia at the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs in our nation's capital. This meeting was an important opportunity for representatives from across the states and territories to come together to discuss a number of issues currently affecting governance.

In particular, the ministerial council provided an opportunity to acknowledge the success of the Australian Consumer Law, which brought about the harmonisation of so many disparate consumer protection laws across Australia on 1 January 2011. The ACL has provided consumers with a number of new protections. The South Australian Office of Consumer and Business Affairs has worked collaboratively with all agencies in agreeing to the content and implementation of the ACL.

OCBA has continued to promote the new protections under the ACL through an education campaign that included a combination of nationally developed guides, locally developed media and presentations to local consumer groups. The ministerial council also acknowledged the need for reform of the travel industry regulations in Australia, given the adoption of the national tourism accreditation framework and the commencement of the ACL. The ministerial council agreed to support further development of a travel industry transition plan as a pathway to an industry-wide regulatory approach.

Ministers believe that the modernisation of the regulatory framework needs to foster ongoing consumer confidence in the sector and enhance consumer protection, competition and also innovation. The ministerial council noted the Australian government's recent announcement that they are committed to developing a consistent approach to the regulation of charities and not-for-profit bodies. I assured them that South Australia looks forward to negotiations on that important issue, given some of the work that we have done in that area.

There was also nationwide recognition of the unlawful selling practices of itinerant salespeople across Australia. Ministers have agreed to establish a national strategy that aims to curtail unlawful selling practices by 2011-12. Some of the other topics discussed included an option for harmonising debt collection; community concerns around gift cards (I know that was an issue of concern for some members in this place); and the continued work being done to develop the cooperative national law, which will endeavour to remove existing barriers to interstate business activities and ensure consistency of administrative practices across jurisdictions.

No doubt, members of the chamber will be interested to note that from next year the council will transition through the new COAG Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs from 1 July 2011. It is a shame about the name; I did try to change it, but they would not have it. South Australia will be the next host for this forum. I think it ends up being called 'FLOCM' or something dreadful. I will have the dubious honour of being the first chair of that-named forum. This will be an exciting opportunity to showcase this great state to ministers from other states and territories, and it will be an honour to have a role in this important group.

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