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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-03-25 Daily Xml
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Fair Trading Act

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:36): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Business Services and Consumers a question about the Fair Trading Act.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: Court action can be stressful, expensive and time-consuming and is usually the last resort when all other means of dispute resolution have been exhausted. Can the minister inform the chamber about how amendments to the Fair Trading Act have assisted consumers?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:36): I thank the honourable member for his important question. Members might recall amendments to the Fair Trading Act 1987 that gave the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs power to call compulsory conciliation conferences. We have already passed the two-year mark since that amendment came into operation. For those members who don't recall or who were not around back then, the compulsory conference is an intermediate and alternative resolution process that aims to avoid the need for legal action through the courts.

As the honourable member has stated, court action can be stressful, expensive and extremely time-consuming and so it is in everyone's best interest to resolve a dispute at an early stage. When deciding if a compulsory conference should take place, consideration is given to the number of complaints against a trader, any conduct that may be in breach of consumer legislation, prior history of a trader having a poor approach to customer complaint handling, and any other criteria that might apply.

The venue for a compulsory conference is determined by the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, and the CBS officer will act as the conciliator. Making attendance compulsory means issues in dispute can be clarified between the parties, and this provides a better chance for reaching resolution. In early 2013, Consumer and Business Services began using compulsory conciliation conferences as an everyday dispute resolution tool.

I am advised that since this time, 403 disputes have been escalated to a compulsory conciliation conference. Of these 403 disputes, 169 were resolved prior to the conference taking place, 179 were resolved in the conference, 33 were unable to reach a resolution at the conference and only 22 cases resulted in the trader not attending. This means that the overall success rate of compulsory conciliation conferences since early 2013 is around 86%, with the number of disputes resolving prior to the conference date being almost equal to the number of disputes going to conference.

These figures would suggest that traders are getting the message that Consumer and Business Services has the authority and will use it to assist consumers in resolving their disputes. Traders who fail to attend compulsory conferences can, under the Fair Trading Act, be issued with an expiation fee. Agreements reached as a result of conciliation will be documented and signed by the commissioner or delegate and by the parties to the agreement.

A signed copy is given to each party for them to comply with the terms of the agreement. If either party fails to carry out their obligation under the written agreement, then the other party or the commissioner can apply to the Magistrate's Court for an order enforcing the terms of the agreement. When agreement between the parties cannot be reached at the conference, individuals to the dispute will then need to decide whether to take further action through the relevant court process to resolve the matter.

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