The seminars were most informative. Tony Johnson Director of Compliance and Mr Steve Legaro of the Office of Fair Trading spoke. This Federal legislation is very important to all Australian consumers and businesses.
It represents a massive effective cooperation between all levels of government to put it in place.
The main topics covered were:
[ul]Consumer guarantees
Unfair contract terms in consumer law
Product safety
Sales practices
Unfair business practices
Compliance and enforcement.[/ul]
Readable guide booklets are available on each of these topics explaining what the new law is that applies to us all.
The guides cover:
[ul]Consumer guarantees
[ol]what consumer guarantees apply to certain goods & services
who is responsible for satisfying the requirements of the consumer guarantees
when remedies such as a refund repair and replacement will be available[/ol]
Unfair contract terms
[ol]what an unfair term is
which contracts are affected by the law[/ol]
Product safety
[ol]safety standards
recalls
bans
safety warning notices
mandatory reporting requirements[/ol]
Sales practices
[ol]unsolicited supplies
unsolicited consumer agreements (door-to-door & telemarketin)
lay-by agreements
pricing
proof of transaction
itemised bills
referrl selling
pyramid schemes
harassment and coercion[/ol]
Unfair business practices
[ol]misleading or deceptive conduct
unconscionable conduct
country of origin
false and misleading representations
information standards[/ol]
Compliance and enforcement
[ol]how consumer protection agencies will enforce the law[/ol][/ul]
The [url=http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au]Office of Fair Trading [/url] on 13 QGOV (or 13 74 68) handles it. They are part of the Department of Employment Economic Develpment and Innovation.
[url=http://www.qcat.qld.gov.au/]
QCAT [/url]is available for complaints under $25000 – it is very informal. QCAT is the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.