Consumer Affairs Victoria
Consumer Affairs Victoria is the consumer protection regulator of the Victorian state government in Australia. It oversees fair trading, tenancy and housing matters, product safety, and licensing and registration for businesses and consumers in Victoria.www.consumer.vic.gov.au
15
MENTIONS
10
EPISODES
8
PODCASTS
Search complete. 15 mentions across 10 episodes found for "Consumer Affairs Victoria".
Oct 12, 2026
Brent DayHOST
Mm.
Gavin StaindlHOST
Um, and the thing is, the CAV, which is Consumer Affairs Victoria-
Brent DayHOST
Yeah
Gavin StaindlHOST
... they're coming in hot too.
Damien PattersonGUEST
Um, also, the one thing that I'm always trying to make sure that renters know about is that if they do get a rent increase that if they think is too high, they do have options.
Damien PattersonGUEST
Um, particularly, uh, if you have received a rent increase, you can apply to Consumer Affairs Victoria for an assessment onto whether it's too high, um, should it help you negotiate something that's reasonable.
Tom ElliottHOST
Yeah.
Tom ElliottHOST
Okay.
Damien PattersonGUEST
Certainly the different political parties have now got different policies on increasing supply and so hopefully we can see more houses built in the next term of Parliament.
Damien PattersonGUEST
Also, though, one thing that I'm always trying to make sure that renters know about is that if they do get a rent increase that they think is too high, they do have options, particularly if you have received a rent increase, you can apply to Consumer Affairs Victoria for an assessment onto whether it's too high.
Damien PattersonGUEST
It should help you negotiate something that's reasonable.
Tom ElliottHOST
Yeah, okay, look, thank you for your time.
Damien PattersonGUEST
So we do also have a policy that we're calling for on rent increases.
Damien PattersonGUEST
Um, so one of the things that I always hope that renters know about is that if you get a rent increase at the moment and you don't think it's fair, um, you can apply to Consumer Affairs Victoria for an assessment of it and whether it's fair or not.
Damien PattersonGUEST
Um, we, um, we hope more renters will do that.
Damien PattersonGUEST
Um, we also know, though, that, um, it can feel a little bit like a black box that you're feeding your information into.
Heidi MurphyHOST
So everything gets disclosed from here on out?
Toby BalazsGUEST
There is a small criteria for which you can apply to Consumer Affairs Victoria based on domestic and family violence or the potential for personal violence where you can have that price suppressed.
Toby BalazsGUEST
But pretty much every property, well, every property that sits outside of that criteria will need to have that sale price disclosed.
Heidi MurphyHOST
Now, you're not loving a lot of the changes, are you? What, from a regulatory burden side of things, or you've genuinely got concerns around how the market's going to continue? Are auctions going to disappear?
Tristan LarkinHOST
And so far...
Tristan LarkinHOST
The RAIV has confirmed with Consumer Affairs Victoria that that is not the case.
Tristan LarkinHOST
So the vendor is not compelled to simply sell the property because the bidding reaches or exceeds their published reserve.
Tristan LarkinHOST
They have the ability to change their mind.
Tristan LarkinHOST
I want to go to auction and they don't have to accept your offer.
Tristan LarkinHOST
And they also don't have to increase the reserve either.
Tristan LarkinHOST
And what it said on the Consumer Affairs Victoria website, which I find nearly funny, is they said if you offer like $50,000 above the published reserve, if they would still accept that on auction day, they can just not change the quoted range at all and just run it to auction.
Tristan LarkinHOST
But they said, well, if you're not accepting it because you think it's not a big enough number, then you have to change it.
Tom BallardHOST
This bill closes that loophole so that these unions who can't offer real protection to workers won't be able to register as an incorporated association.
Tom BallardHOST
Consumer Affairs Victoria will be given powers to wind up these fake unions.
Tom BallardHOST
Now, I'll be honest, I was really out of the loop with this.
Tom BallardHOST
I was quite confused.
John PrestonGUEST
So firstly, however, you do need to take it up with the utility.
John PrestonGUEST
And as I said, if that is not satisfactory, your next port of call is Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Pat PanettaHOST
Okay, Kath, and I think the email should say something like, you know, I'm Kath, this is my thing, and I'm going to Consumer Affairs about this.
Pat PanettaHOST
I'm not happy.
John PrestonGUEST
As I said, you've definitely got rights under uniform consumer law.
John PrestonGUEST
And so that is your first port of call, though, is the utility.
John PrestonGUEST
And then if that is not satisfactory, it goes over to Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Pat PanettaHOST
All right, Kev.
Kasey McDonaldHOST
Exactly right.
Peter SchravemadeHOST
We've got a Consumer Affairs Victoria.
Peter SchravemadeHOST
Yet again.
Peter SchravemadeHOST
They're out in force.
Peter SchravemadeHOST
So the government's falling.
Peter SchravemadeHOST
Nero is playing his violin in the office while the whole of Melbourne burns.
Peter SchravemadeHOST
But Consumer Affairs Victoria, for the first time, they've got a bit of teeth and they're out there hunting agents.
Peter SchravemadeHOST
So we've got two, and one agency fined, two others are facing court over late bond payments.
Carol ChinGUEST
I started making my own research.
Carol ChinGUEST
One of the, the advice they gave me is to request for a free property inspection service provided by Consumer Affairs Victoria.
L-Fresh The LionHOST
And this is where the state layer becomes practical.
L-Fresh The LionHOST
In Victoria, renting rules, tenant rights, Consumer Affairs Victoria, and VCAT, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, are all part of that pathway.
L-Fresh The LionHOST
Different states and territories have different names and processes, but the bigger point is this: when a rental problem becomes a rights problem, you're usually dealing with state or territory law.
Carol ChinGUEST
So the Consumer Affairs Victoria property inspector issued a formal letter saying that the property needs, uh, to be repaired immediately.
Carol ChinGUEST
I already started my own research of the Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal, uh, VCAT.
Carol ChinGUEST
The hearing was scheduled within 48 hours.