Consumer Affairs Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) are currently undertaking a review of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), which is the national law governing fair trading and consumer protection across all jurisdictions of Australia.
The National Retail Association (NRA) will be making a submission to CAANZ, on behalf of members and other interested parties, and invites all members to provide comments about operating under the ACL since its introduction in 2011.
In particular the (NRA) is interested in hearing from members in relation to how the law is operating, and in particular, any feedback you may have in relation to obligations the ACL has placed on your retail business when undertaking transactions with customers.
This may be associated, but not limited, a number of operational issues, as follows:
• standards of business conduct;
• unfair trading practices;
• business-to-consumer regulations;
• goods and service guarantees; and
• product safety guidelines.
In addition to this, the review will also consider the joint enforcement arrangements between both Commonwealth and state consumer protection agencies, and whether this has been sufficiently flexible for current consumer protection needs, and whether it is a suitable framework for emerging needs.
If the ACL has resulted in any unintended or excessive instances of red tape for your retail businesses please contact Cameron Meiklejohn, Industry Research & Data Analyst, on (07) 3240 0156 or by email.