Page 2918 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 15 August 1990
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The Bill achieves this through certain key provisions: requiring door-to-door traders to provide plain English statements of the terms of contracts; creating a 10-day cooling-off period during which consumers may revoke contracts made with door-to-door traders; and, regulating the hours during which traders may call on householders - not before 9.00 am or after 8.00 pm weekdays and 5.00 pm weekends, and not at all on public holidays, except by invitation.
ADJOURNMENT
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! It being 4.30 pm, I propose the question:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Collaery: I require the question to be put forthwith without debate.
Question resolved in the negative.
DOOR-TO-DOOR TRADING BILL 1990
Debate resumed.
MR COLLAERY: The Bill will be consistent with the law in New South Wales but in significant respects it will be a great improvement on New South Wales law. New South Wales has not adopted the uniform model legislation but has a door-to-door sales law adopted in the 1960s, like our present law, which does contain the main provisions for a 10-day cooling-off period and for typescript statements of contractual terms. However, I do not believe that the Government needs to apologise for departing from the situation existing in New South Wales when it acts in the interests of the ACT public. In the case of the present Bill, we cannot afford to wait for New South Wales to update its door-to-door sales law. Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria have already acted, and a Bill has been tabled in the Northern Territory Assembly.
The New South Wales law, for example, does not regulate trading hours of door-to-door traders which I believe, and I know householders will agree with me in this, is a most serious omission. The New South Wales law does not apply to cash transactions - another serious defect. There are also a number of other innovative provisions in the model legislation which improve upon the New South Wales law that presently is in place in the ACT. For example, consumers will have an extended period of six months to revoke contracts if traders do not comply with key provisions; and traders are required to physically hand a notice and to
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