Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill (No. 2

118 Pages·2010·0.72 MB·English

by  Economics Legislation Committee

The Senate

Economics
Legislation Committee
Trade Practices Amendment (Australian
Consumer Law) Bill (No. 2) 2010 [Provisions]

May 2010
© Commonwealth of Australia 2010

ISBN 978-1-74229-284-7

Printed by the Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra.
Senate Economics Legislation Committee

Members
Senator Annette Hurley, Chair South Australia, ALP
Senator Alan Eggleston, Deputy Chair Western Australia, LP
Senator David Bushby Tasmania, LP
Senator Doug Cameron New South Wales, ALP
Senator Louise Pratt Western Australia, ALP
Senator Nick Xenophon South Australia, IND

Secretariat
Mr John Hawkins, Secretary
Dr Richard Grant, Principal Research Officer
Ms Sandra Kennedy, Principal Research Officer
Ms Ally Foat, Senior Research Officer
Ms Hanako Jones, Executive Assistant
Mr Joshua See, Executive Assistant

PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Ph: 02 6277 3540
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/economics ctte/index.htm

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Membership of Committee iii
Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... ix 
Summary and Recommendations ...................................................................... 1 
Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill (No. 2) 2010 ..... 1 
Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................. 5 
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 5 
Reform history ........................................................................................................ 6 
Consultation on the bill .......................................................................................... 8 
The bill .................................................................................................................. 10 
Conduct of the inquiry .......................................................................................... 11 
Structure of the report ........................................................................................... 11 
The Committee's overall impression of the bill .................................................... 12 
Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................... 13 
Harmonising Australia's consumer laws .............................................................. 13 
The Government's approach ................................................................................. 13 
The regulator's approach ....................................................................................... 14 
Support for harmonising state and territory fair trading laws .............................. 15 
Views on the bar at which uniform laws are set ................................................... 17 
Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................... 19 
The definition of 'consumer' and the scope of the bill ........................................ 19 
The Australian Consumer Law and Trade Practices Act's definitions ................. 19 
Ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use / consumption ...... 20 
Definitions of 'consumer' where section 3 does not apply ................................... 20 
Concerns about the bill's definition of 'consumer' in section 3 ............................ 21 
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Treasury's position ................................................................................................ 26 
Options to amend section 3 of the bill .................................................................. 26 
Table 3.1: A hybrid test ........................................................................................ 28 
Committee view .................................................................................................... 29 
Table 3.2 ............................................................................................................... 30 
Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................... 31 
Consumer Guarantees ............................................................................................ 31 
The New Zealand model of consumer guarantees ............................................... 31 
Exemptions to consumer guarantees .................................................................... 38 
Chapter 5 ........................................................................................................... 49 
Unsolicited selling ................................................................................................... 49 
Context of the provisions ...................................................................................... 49 
The definition of unsolicited consumer agreements ............................................. 49 
Permitted hours for negotiating an unsolicited consumer agreement .................. 54 
Section 73(2)......................................................................................................... 56 
Cooling off periods ............................................................................................... 57 
Table 5.1: Variation in cooling off periods .......................................................... 58 
Chapter 6 ........................................................................................................... 63 
Product Safety ......................................................................................................... 63 
A national product safety system ......................................................................... 63 
Incident reporting ................................................................................................. 64 
Requirements related to illness ............................................................................. 71 
Chapter 7 ........................................................................................................... 73 
Enforcement and dispute resolution ..................................................................... 73 
Enforcement.......................................................................................................... 73 
Submitters' views on the bill's enforcement provisions ....................................... 75 
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Alternative and low cost dispute resolution ......................................................... 77 
Onus of proof ........................................................................................................ 78 
Committee view .................................................................................................... 80 
Chapter 8 ........................................................................................................... 83 
Minor drafting issues ............................................................................................. 83 
Additional comments by Coalition senators ................................................... 87 
Introduction .......................................................................................................... 87 
Definition of consumer and consumer good ........................................................ 87 
Consumer guarantees ............................................................................................ 89 
Unsolicited Selling ............................................................................................... 92 
Product Safety Reporting ..................................................................................... 92 
Enforcement and dispute resolution ..................................................................... 99 
Lack of consultation and Drafting issues ............................................................. 99 
APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................... 103 
Submissions Received ........................................................................................... 103 
Additional Information Received ........................................................................ 104 
APPENDIX 2 ................................................................................................... 105 
Public Hearings and Witnesses ........................................................................... 105 

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Abbreviations
ACCAN Australian Communications Consumer Action Network
ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; Australia's
trade practices and consumer protection authority
ACL Australian Consumer Law; the suite of legislation of which the
bill on which this inquiry reports is part.
CCAAC Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council
CoAG Council of Australian Governments
MCCA Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs
MTAA Motor Trades Association of Australia
RIS Regulatory Impact Statement
SCOCA Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs
TPA Trade Practices Act 1974, current Commonwealth legislation
governing competition and consumer protection in Australia

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