Articles

The guide to the Australian Consumer Law for fundraising and other activities of charities, not-for-profits and fundraisers sets out general principles, supported by examples, to assist the charity and fundraising sector in understanding its obligations under the ACL.

The production of this guide is a result of stakeholder feedback provided during the Review of the ACL. Regulators developed this guide following interest from charities, not-for-profit and fundraisers who wanted more information to help them better understand their obligations under the ACL, particularly in relation to fundraising.

There’s a good chance you’ve heard of platforms like Uber and Airbnb. These platforms and many others are part of the sharing economy.

"While sharing economy platforms can provide a new and convenient experience for purchasing and hiring goods or services, questions around consumer and trader protection often come with the new territory.

If you hire or buy goods and services through an online marketplace or sharing economy platform, you are protected by the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) if things go wrong, in the same way as you would be if you were to buy in store.

Australians love their live experiences. From music, food and arts festivals to sports events, expos and conventions. New festivals and events pop up every year with great interest, but what happens when an event is cancelled or dramatically changes?

Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), consumers have rights if a business fails to deliver what they promised. If a festival or event doesn’t go ahead or has major changes, you can seek a refund.

It’s important that consumers know their rights and where to go for help. We have some tips to help you avoid losing money on festival and event tickets, and how to protect yourself.

On 12 June 2015 Consumer Affairs Ministers agreed Terms of Reference for the Australian Consumer Law Review. This review, undertaken by Consumer Affairs Australia and New Zealand, commenced in 2016 and concluded in March 2017 with the Final Report published in April 2017.

For more information on the review, please visit the Australian Consumer Law Review page.

On 31 March 2016, Commonwealth, state and territory ministers with responsibility for consumer affairs met and agreed to the Commonwealth’s preferred proposal for country of origin labelling reform, supported by a Decision Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS). See the Communique from the meeting.

Further information is available on the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science website.

On 31 March 2016, Consumer Affairs Ministers agreed to the introduction of an information standard requiring eggs labelled as ‘free range’ to have been laid by hens with meaningful and regular access to the outdoors and with an outdoor stocking density of 10,000 hens per hectare or fewer.

View further information about free range egg labelling.

Property investment promoters, or spruikers, invite people to their 'wealth creation' seminars, often for free, with the promise of investment tips or opportunities. They typically promote a property investment system or market a specific property development.

Consumer protection agencies across Australia have found many property spruikers cannot substantiate the success stories and claims of profits they promote. View further information about property spruikers and investment seminars.