The Minister for Financial Services & Regulation, Joe Hockey, today released a study which provides the first national data on preferences in consumer redress.
The Consumer Redress Study brings together two reports, the first a survey of 437 consumers who had used each of 11 different redress schemes.
The second was a survey of the participating schemes to examine their processes and procedures.
"Redress is a key part of consumer sovereignty the Government's philosophy on consumer affairs," the Minister said.
"I am pleased with the overall performance of the available consumer redress mechanisms in Australia. The availability of effective redress is essential if we are to encourage consumer sovereignty, forcing industry to ensure high standards of information disclosure, customer service and product quality.
"Through the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs and the Department of Treasury, I will be working with jurisdictions and industry dispute schemes on the implementation of the studys recommendations.
The report is consistent with the Governments support for industry self-regulation and follows on from other recent reports, including the Prescribing Codes Guideline, which identifies the limited circumstances in which the Minister for Financial Services & Regulation will consider prescribing a code under the Trade Practices Act 1974.
The participating organisations were: Small and Consumer Claims Courts and Tribunals in Queensland, West Australia, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania; and industry schemes such as the Australian Banking Industry Ombudsman, the General Insurance Enquiries and Complaints Service, the Life Insurance Complaints Scheme; the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman; the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman; and the Electricity Industry Ombudsman of Victoria (now Energy Industry Ombudsman of Victoria).
Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory participated only in the scheme survey component of the study.
The Redress study can be found at http://www.treasury.gov.au
Copies of the study can be obtained from the Treasury on 02 6263 3128.