Mr Graeme Samuel, Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), conceded that there is room for improvement to the consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. In his address to the National Consumer Congress 15 March 2007, Mr Samuel suggested potential advancements including:
- civil pecuniary penalties
- consumer redress, and
- uniformity of fair trading laws.
According to Mr Samuel, the ability to gain civil pecuniary remedies ‘would significantly enhance the ability of the ACCC to obtain effective outcomes and provide a higher degree of deterrence’. Mr Samuel expressed the view that the ACCC needs to be able to seek court orders to acquire consumer redress for large numbers of consumers, to act as a consumer champion. This would ‘increase deterrence against wrongdoing, and provide consumers the ability to gain redress.’
Mr Samuel acknowledged that despite the benefits of uniformity of fair trading laws, ‘in practice uniformity has been difficult to achieve’. He described the need for uniformity as ‘becoming more urgent.’
He noted that the consumer protective provisions do not operate in a vacuum. The competition provisions are also ‘regulatory tools designed to enhance consumer welfare’. According to Mr Samuel, ‘what is on offer is an improved, better coordinated and stronger protection regime. At the centre of the changes the winners will of course be all Australian consumers—as they should be.’ (see The foundations of good consumer protection policy, Graeme Samuel, 15 March 2007.)
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For information regarding possible implications for your business, contact a member of the Competition & Market Regulation team.