Amendment And Reformation Of Consumer Law In Australia

Australian Consumer Law is a single national law, which is, applies in all jurisdictions, to all business and to all industry sectors. The ACL also represents a new approach to considering consumer policy issues, with the Australian Government and the States and Territories working closely together to consider develop and implement changes.

The principle of unconscianbility within Australian consumer law was applied most notably in the case of Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio. These judgments later played a role in determining the outcome of the Kakavas v Crown Melbourne Ltd, whereby the High court considered the principles and outcomes from the first case in the latter. Unconscionable conduct is concerned with the abuse of a dominant position by one contracting party over a weaker contracting party. When determining if this principle of unconscionable conduct has occurred, three main principled must be assed:

| A consumer is an individual/organisation who buys a good/service for their personal use. They are a key stakeholder in some business’ as they are the primary source of their revenue.

In this essay I will be critically analysing an article and report on the relationship between Australian law and International law, reflecting on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and whether it ensures the safe guard of human rights for future generations. I will then analyse whether this promotes peace and equality internationally.

They believe that those laws should govern the behaviour of all, all the while respecting what is known as the ‘rule of law’ and ‘procedural fairness’ because these processes express one of the core values on which was founded - that of the fundamental equality between persons. (Cannold, 2011) The legal society of Australia, often behaves as such, with reform happening where needed in order to keep up with the changes (both value-based and physical) that occur in society. This law reform process is executed through various formal and informal methods, through both the legislative process, and other means through the public body, such as protest, petition and the ever-present 24 hour media cycle. Law reform, particularly legislative reform, has been touted as a means of facilitating progressive chance. (Armstrong,

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) was established to protect consumers in any legal trading activities in Australia. A set of guarantees has also been introduced for those consumers who are acquiring goods and services from Australian suppliers, importers or manufacturers. The guarantees are intended to ensure that consumers will receive the goods or services they have paid for. If they have problems with the products and services they bought, they are entitled for remedies, such as repair, replacement, and refund.

A consumer defined in the Fair Trading Act 1987 (NSW) is ‘any person who acquires goods and services from a supplier’. The Industrial Revolution resulted in most goods being mass produced; often with little or no contact between manufacturer and consumer. This meant that the law moved from the laissez-faire approach (leaving things to take their own course) to consumer affairs and notion of caveat emptor (Latin for Let buyer beware). Due to the never ending failure of laissez-failure approach, a number of legal and non-legal measures were introduced which had different levels of effectiveness in achieving justice for consumers. Government regulation such as Trade Practises Act which includes Advertising and Marketing regulation, Fair

In regards to assessing the effectiveness of the Australian legal system in protecting consumer rights there are a number of areas, which must be critically examined.

Australian society is constantly changing and developing, therefore laws need to be accordingly dynamic in order to respond effectively to the changes in social values, overcome issues when they arise, promote equality, to support scientific and technological advances as they perpetually occur, and to ensure majority compliance amongst the community.

The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (‘the ASIC Act’) and the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) are the most notable pieces of Commonwealth legislation that operate to provide consumer protection and fair trading.

Introduced on 1 January 2011, Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is a single, Australia-wide law that governs and protects fair trading practices. ACL is a sub-section of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and is administered and enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Queensland Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Unconscionability refers to an agreement entered into against the dictates of good conscience. Section 21 of the Australia Consumers Law deals with unconscionable conduct pertaining to the acquisition or supply of goods or services. Section 21(2) sets out the factors to be considered in determining whether the contract is unconscionable and these are:

The control that the government has on the citizens of this country has pushed its boundaries and should not be able to dictate out choices. This opinion article 'Limiting our freedoms' published on the citizensforcivilliberties.com written by Oliver Clements talks of not the benefits or negatives of the new reform but of the limitations put on the citizens of Australia, the roles that the government has taken to control us while making us believe that it is for our own benefit. It talks of the restraints that citizens are put under because of the select few that cannot control themselves. Clements does not agree with the new reform but not because he will lose money or that he wants to be able to bet more but because the liberations of the

Zines Leslie, ‘The Common law in Australia: Its nature and Constitutional Significance ‘(Federation Press, 1999)

This essay will analyse the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (‘CRA 2015’) as it is a significant element of the government’s reform of consumer law in the UK. The Act has been lauded as an immense upheaval of consumer law due to the integration of eight existing pieces of legislation into one. The complicated regulations regarding goods and services that consumers and businesses struggle to comprehend will no longer apply under the Act.