Page 6068 - Week 14 - Thursday, 9 December 2010
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proposed legislation itself. Submissions to the consultations included submissions from many peak industry bodies, many of which are based in the ACT.
In 2008 the Productivity Commission’s review suggested that the complexity and duplication resulting from the current consumer law system could lead to a lack of consumer confidence in the market and a negative effect on competition and innovation.
In 2010 the commonwealth passed the primary legislation implementation of the reforms. The first act, the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Act (No 1) 2010, was the first in a suite of legislation to implement the ACL. The first act included the unfair contract terms provisions of the ACL, as well as enhanced enforcement provisions for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The remainder of the ACL was implemented by the Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Act (No 2) 2010.
The bill we are debating today largely replaces the Fair Trading Act 1992. Features of the nationally consistent consumer laws that it enacts include a single set of definitions and interpretive provisions, some of which differ from those currently used in the Trade Practices Act, and a single set of consumer guarantees, which replaces laws on statutory conditions and warranties where the pre-existing law required consumers to enforce their rights as breaches of contract. These remedies are now set out in the statute. This eliminates the need for consumers to understand contract law to enforce their rights and is a very positive reform.
Other features include a new national law on unfair contract terms, a new national regime for unsolicited consumer agreements which replaces existing state and territory laws on door-to-door sales and other unsolicited sales practices, five basic rules about lay-by agreements which are simple and always provide for full refund to the consumer, a new national product safety legislative regime and new national provisions on information standards which apply to services as well as goods.
The introduction of the ACL into participating Australian jurisdictions, including the ACT, will provide clarity and certainty for consumers and businesses alike. Commonwealth provisions for interpretation of legislation apply these skills, which will also enhance uniform interpretation across jurisdictions. Taken together, the provisions of the bill will enhance consistent application of the law by reference to one single national consumer law with new enforcement powers, penalties and remedies for breaches of the law. These new powers mean that consumer law will be enforced more consistently in the territory and across Australia and will provide greater clarity and predictability for business.
It is extraordinary that the party that says it is here for small business is not supporting this law today, a law that will provide a single set of national consumer protections and obligations that make it easier for business and consumers to understand their rights and obligations, that removes the multiplicity of different rules and regulations that have existed across eight separate jurisdictions. It is extraordinary that the Liberal Party, which claims to be the party of small business, stands today in opposition to these reforms, reforms that will make it easier for small business to understand their
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