The Turnbull Government today calls on businesses and consumers to have their say on proposed reforms that have come out of the Australian Consumer Law Review, including proposals to clarify, simplify and modernise the consumer guarantee framework in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
These proposals are considered in a paper that was released by Treasury on behalf of Consumer Affairs Australia and New Zealand this month.
The Government encourages submissions from both consumers and businesses on the proposals to increase the threshold in the ACL's definition of 'consumer', clarify the consumer guarantee remedies, enhance disclosure for extended warranties and extend access to consumer guarantees for goods sold via online auctions.
Consumers and businesses need to know where they stand, and it's important that the ACL operates as intended, and continues to be accessible to both consumers and businesses.
The ACL Review identified that consumers and businesses face uncertainty about when consumers are entitled to reject a good and choose a remedy. It also raised concerns that consumers do not have enough information when it comes to deciding whether to purchase extended warranties.
To ensure a modern consumer protection regime, the Government is also looking at the online marketplace and considering what protections should apply to online auctions.
The Government encourages interested stakeholders to make a written submission on the matters raised in the consultation paper by Monday 23 April, 2018.
The Consultation Paper and details of the consultation process are available on the Treasury consultation hub.