Australian Consumer Law

What do you reckon, Paul? Yeah, I mean, look, it sounds like a very interesting circumstance because we have what sounds like a faulty item and then they're offering something that's not necessarily going to make you whole with the damage it's caused.

So you need to look at what are the express warranties that the watch actually has, how long are they saying that it should last, and if Will the Australian Consumer Law also come into play here? Now, you've got an item that obviously cost a lot.

So is it reasonable that it lasted only four years? You know, we'd have to have a look further into it to make that decision.

But look, really, the business, if it's covered under ACL or an express warranty, they should be trying to make you as whole as possible.

Right.

Off the back of that, talking warranties, a question here.

Manufacturers' warranties, are they worth anything or is it better to pursue Australian consumer law guidelines when trying to get an issue rectified?

That's a great question.

Like extended warranties.

Extended warranties generally don't give you any greater protection than you get under Australian consumer law, but they lock you into servicing at that particular dealer.

That's one of the terms and conditions generally.

I've never

Yeah.

That's a very good question.

So the bottom line is that the car industry is ridiculously perverse in that you're buying this quite expensive consumer product And many of them act as if Australian consumer law doesn't apply to it, as if that's only for freaking toasters or something, right? And nothing could be further from the truth, right? So the thing about getting a refund or a replacement and making it your call is that the car has to have a major problem, quote-unquote major problem, which is an important...

definition in Australian consumer law, and it's covered by various consumer guarantees, like the guarantee of acceptable quality, which is laid out in off the top of my head section 54 of Australian consumer law.

Trish Blake, what advice do you have for farmers who believe they have a problem with their canola seed?

So the great thing for these farmers in Western Australia is that they have a unique position in the Australian consumer law in that farmers in Western Australia are protected by the same protections that consumers have under our Australian consumer law.

So that means that all the consumer guarantees that apply to consumer products also apply to their products that they purchase for farming.

So in this instance, the grain must be of acceptable quality and it must be fit for purpose and it must match any descriptions that the manufacturer or the seller sold it to them under.

And look, that's not surprising because it's not, again, as consumer protection.

Farmers probably don't see themselves as consumers.

and perhaps don't have that awareness that they have this special protection under the Australian Consumer Law in Western Australia because normally, you know, big businesses aren't covered by the Australian Consumer Law.

Small businesses are, but farmers are because Western Australia, we've got such a large farming community.

We are confident in our ability to enforce Australian law against global companies.

This has been tested quite recently in the High Court, actually relating to the Ruby Princess operations, and it showed the High Court was very clear that a foreign company, even with an overseas tourist who was the one that took the action, and where the contract was under overseas law because that business and the particular matter that was being raised related to business within Australia, that that was covered by our law and that the rules and in fact the norms of behaviour that are under the Australian Consumer Law applied.

So we are very comfortable that our Act gives us jurisdiction against global companies.

Because you've quite clearly got consumer safety as well as competition, as well as any sort of cartel-like behaviour or price manipulation-type behaviour.

You know, practitioners have spent, well, the industry has waited so long for these rebates to be reinstated.

And, you know, advertising compliance under the Australian Consumer Law is being positioned now as an essential component to provider recognition.

So alongside qualifications, association membership, CPD and insurance, you know, that matters.

And so it doesn't mean that a single breach, I guess at this point, removes rebate eligibility, but it does mean that how you advertise your clinic and your services is increasingly being considered within the broader provider recognition and compliance frameworks.

Because basically if you're an ARPA registered practitioner, patient testimonials like that, which is before and afters, they are prohibited, you know, full stop.

Can't say it, can't do it, easy, quite simple.

For non-registered practitioners, then the rules sit under Australian consumer law and the TGA advertising code if you're talking about products as well.

So it really all focuses around misleading or exaggerated testimonials.

I f-- I feel like it wasn't too long ago that I actually talked about that.

Um, so basically Rick, when there's an extended warranty involved, they need to make sure that they are telling you what the extended warranty provides above and beyond the Australian Consumer Law.

You have rights to remedies, we, as, as mentioned, does it extend your rights to those remedies?

Mm-hmm.

... at that store where people could go through and it fast-tracked things as opposed to the, the manufacturer warranty.

So that was probably a bit of a difference in, in what was offered in that service.

Yeah, and that would be something that might-- may be considered above and beyond the Australian Consumer Law.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.Uh, but yeah, I mean, don't forget you've got Australian consumer law there as well for, you know, big failures.

So if something goes wrong at five and a half years, a full engine failure, for example-

Mm-hmm

As I said, Maurice Blackburn lodged the class action in the Supreme Court at the end of 2023.

Now it's sort of, you know, coming to, to trial now and say that it's gonna test if JB Hi-Fi sold millions of people rights that they already had for free under the Australian Consumer Law.

Now, what's really the nub of this seems to be that, uh, for about a decade or so, it's alleged that JB Hi-Fi was selling extended warranties, you know, for purchasers in their stores under names like Extended Care or Extra Care.

Uh, but Maurice Blackburn claim that, well, there was nothing extended or extra about it.