Visit the link for: TPA: treasury.gov.au

On 24 June 2010 the Federal Parliament passed the most comprehensive reforms to the Trade Practices Act 1974 (and the relevant sections of the ASIC Act 2001) since the Trade Practices Act was first enacted in 1974.

The date of effect is proposed for 1 January 2011.

The legislative changes include a new name for the Trade Practices Act which will be called the Competition and Consumer Act 2010

Changes which will impact about credit professional include:

• returning the definition of a ‘consumer’ (which applies to provisions of the ACL dealing with consumer guarantees, unsolicited consumer agreements, lay-by sales, the provision of itemised bills, continuing credit contracts and linked credit contracts) to apply to any person that purchases goods and services below $40,000 in value;
• as a consequence of the aforementioned amendment, allow suppliers and manufacturers to limit their liability in respect of goods not ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use or consumption that fail to meet the standards required by consumer guarantees (in line with existing sections 68A and 74L of the TP Act);

It should be noted that these changes will mean that credit providers will need to ensure that their business purpose declarations address these new provisions

• clarifying that a consumer may choose to terminate a contract for the supply of services that are connected to goods that have been rejected;
• clarifying that the obligation upon a supplier to refund monies in respect of services when connected goods have been rejected extends only to services that have not yet been consumed;
• clarifying that the scope of the definition of an ‘unsolicited consumer agreement’ includes situations where a consumer provides contact information to a supplier for purposes other than soliciting goods or services (such as entering a competition) or where a consumer contacts a supplier in response to a failed attempt by a supplier to contact them (missed call marketing); and
• clarifying that a supplier is entitled to recover certain amounts from a consumer if an unsolicited consumer agreement is terminated

There are many more changes and AICM will be progressively informing members of the possible impact of these changes in the coming months.

Trade Practices Act now called Competition and Consumer Act 2010

Visit this link  to access the new Act.  

Visit this link  for access to the regulations.

The principle regulator is the ACCC  however in some situations ASIC will have a role for example in the joint production of the Guide to unfair contract terms.

Major changes
New name from 1 January 2011 - 
Competition and Consumer Act  2010

Effective
Unfair contract 1 July 2010
Remainder expected 1 Jan 2011

Consumer Law Amendments to the Trade Practices Act

Visit the link for: The Australian Consumer Law

Application
Unfiar contract terms in consumer contracts in relation to the supply of goods and services.

Scope
These amendments relate to what could be considered to be unfair contract terms and may require revision of standard contracts to ensure potential breaches minimised

Status
Received royal assent July 2010
Will be part of the Australian Consumer Law from 1 January 2011

Application
Single national consumer law

Scope
The ACL includes:

• a new, national unfair contract terms law covering standard form contracts;
• a new, national law guaranteeing consumer rights when buying goods and services, which replaces existing laws on conditions and warranties;
• a new, national product safety law and enforcement system;
• a new, national law for unsolicited consumer agreements, which replaces existing State and Territory laws on door-to-door sales and other direct marketing;
• simple national rules for lay-by agreements; and
• new penalties, enforcement powers and consumer redress options, which currently apply nationally.

Effective
1 January 2011