Consumer Protection in Australia-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp

Questions: 1.What are Consumer's Protections? W hy are Consumers protected? Give a short account of the historical development of Consumer law in Australia. 2.Currently how do Consumer's protection laws operate in Australia? Please explain current Consumer law protection at both state and federal level. 3.If a Consumers is dissatisfied with a good or a service provided explain how he or she can get relief through the court system and outside the court system. Answers: 1.A group of laws and implementing organisations which are enacted by a country so that the rights of the consumer within it can be ensured along with promotion of competition, availability of appropriate and adequate information and fair trade in the market. According to Corones (2014) a place where the seller and the buyer come together to do business is known as the Marketplace. The intention of the seller is to make money from sales and that of the buyer is to purchase something they want or need. The situation is suitable for both the buyer and the seller as long as there expectations are met. The government for the purpose of controlling the market enact a number of laws giving rights to the consumers in relation to the quality of goods they purchase from the sellers. In addition Consumer Protection insurance that the sellers do not indulge in any kind of conduct which is likely to deceive on mislead the consumer (Stadler 2013). According to Ramsay (2012) consumer protection is one of the most essential needs of the society because without a proper Consumer Protection framework it would be impossible to establish a market where the expectations of both the buyers and sellers can be fulfilled. In the contract for sales the bargaining power of the consumer is always lower than that of the seller. Thus, consumer protection ensures that the bargaining power of the customers are enhanced by providing them specific rights with respect to the transaction (Cvjetanovic 2013). Consumer Protection laws ensure that fair trading practices are initiated in the Marketplace. Through these laws the sellers and manufacturers become more accountable towards the quality of goods provided by them for sale. Consumer protection ensures that consumers are not taken advantage of in the Marketplace and if such event occurs they can be compensated for any loss which has been incurred by them. In case consumers are not provided protect ion it would evidently lead to the downfall of the market and subsequently the economy of the country. According to Latimer (2012) consumers are the base of any Marketplace and if they do not feel protected it would lead to unwanted chaos and problems within the society. The purpose of any business organisation is to make profits, thus, protecting the customers through the consumer protection laws ensures that the organisations do not cross the line in order to maximize their profits and bring detriment to the society. Consumer law in Australia had been initially developed through an agreement between the Council of Australian governments. Anti-trust legislation in Australia was passed in the year 1906. The Australian government considered the Sherman Act 1890 used in the United States to base the Australian Industries Prevention Act. There was an amendment to the Act in the year 1911, however it could not become effective. In the year 1965 Australian government passed another Act which was based on the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 belonging to the United Kingdom. Further in the year 1974 the successful Trade Practices Act was passed, which contained strong legislative measures for the purpose of enhancing competition and efficiency in business and to prevent restrictive trade practices along with providing protection to the customers from any kind of unfair trade. The Trade Practices Act 1974 was replaced by the Australian consumer law through schedule 2 of the Australian Competition and C onsumer Act 2010 (Richards et al. 2012). 2.The scheduled 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 is a set legislation for the protection of consumer and is applicable as the law of the Australian Commonwealth alongside being incorporated into the law of the state and territories of Australia. Provisions which were incorporated in the trade practices act 1974 are broadly reflected for the new consumer law along with a few additional protections for the consumer. Most of the provisions related to consumer protection of the states and territories legislation are incorporated in the Australian consumer law. A broad definition has been provided by the Australian consumer law in relation to who is a consumer. The Australian consumer law defines a consumer has anyone who purchases services are good with have a value of less than $40000, any person who purchase a good or service which is required for ordinary household purpose even if it is of a value of more than 40000 and anyone who purchases at trailer or a vehicle for the pu rpose of transporting goods on public roads. Even if the goods have been purchased for the purpose of re supply or for any kind of trade and Commerce the buyer would be regarded as a consumer. Accordingly the new Australian consumer law enhances protection in relation to product safety and quality, business behaviour, farms and businesses (Pearson 2017). The Australian consumer law recognises and identifies unfair terms to be void however if the contract can be continued without the presence of that unfair term contract would still be applicable. All the sellers are prevented from engaging in a conduct which is unconscionable while dealing with any other person with respect to trade and Commerce. The Australian consumer law prevents any seller to engage in a conduct which can be misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead of deceive any consumer in relation to the contract for sales of goods or services. Further the Australian consumer law prevents any kind of bait advertisements which is used to induce the customers to increase the demand of particular goods or services without having the intention to supply them (Barnett and Harder 2014). The enforcement and administration of the ACL is done by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission along with the state and territory Consumer Protection Agencies. The Australian Security and Investment Commission also takes part in the administration of the law when it comes to Financial Service matters (Akinbami 2011.). The federal jurisdiction of the law is also applicable to the behaviour which is done outside Australia by an Australian citizen, a person who is ordinarily resident in Australia and a body which has been incorporated or carries out business in Australia. The federal regulation also supervisors over the conduct of corporations, the supply of goods and services to Corporation or accusation of services and goods from any person by a Corporation other than public companies which are listed. All other matters which come under the provisions of ACL are governed by the states. Consistency between jurisdictions is promoted by the implementation of identical Consum er Protection laws in both the states and the Commonwealth as it becomes convenient for the Federal government to amend laws without initiating any debate in relation to the laws in the jurisdiction of the state or territory. 3.In case, a person is not satisfied in relation to the goods and services procured by him in Australia, he has the option of claiming relief both from the court system and outside. The Australian consumer law provides consumer guarantees to the consumers. According to this guarantees if the product are not in accordance with the reasonable expectations of the consumer it is the liability of the seller to repair, refund or replace the goods or services. In addition if a consumer is harmed because of the use of such goods or services it is also the liability of the seller to compensate the consumer for the harm caused to him because of such use. There have been several cases in Australia where fines and penalties have been imposed on businesses for the breach of Australian Consumer law such as the case of Australian competition and consumer Commission vs Bunavit Pty ltd 2016 FCA 6, ACCC v Whistle Co Pty Ltd 2015 FCA 1447 and ACCC v Reckitt Benckiser Pty Ltd 2015 FCA 1408. These cases have not only resulted in the payment of pecuniary penalties but also the cost which was incurred by ACCC with respect to the case along with the corrective notice in business franchise Australia magazine. Whenever there is a problem related to the quality of goods the consumers must always follow a three step complaint process. In the first step a complaint should be made to the seller and the problems regarding the service or the goods have to be discussed with them so that it can be resolved. Secondly through the use of consumer guarantees and the provisions of refund, replace and repair the problem should be solved as far as possible with the seller outside the court through the process of negotiation (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission 2017). However, if the problem does not get solved by following the previous steps a consumer may write a complaint letter to ACCC briefing the problem. A dispute which has a value of less than $12000 can initiate a minor civil action in the Magistrate Court. For disputes involving a value of more than $12000 and less than $100000 are eligible to initiate a claim in general claim division of the courts. Where the dispute involves a value of more than $100000 a claim can be initiated with respect to such dispute in the district and Supreme Court of the respective states and territories. Prior to initiating a litigation process a notice of intention to sue in a way of a final notice of claim has to be provided to the service provider or the business (Consumerlaw.gov.au 2017). References Akinbami, F., 2011. Financial services and consumer protection after the crisis.International Journal of Bank Marketing,29(2), pp.134-147. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2017). Consumer rights guarantees. [online] Available at: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees [Accessed 15 Aug. 2017]. Barnett, K. and Harder, S., 2014.Remedies in Australian private law. Cambridge University Press. Consumerlaw.gov.au. (2017). Australian Consumer Law. [online] Available at: https://consumerlaw.gov.au/ [Accessed 15 Aug. 2017]. Corones, S.G., 2014.Competition law in Australia. Thomson Reuters Australia, Limited. Cvjetanovic, M., 2013. Consumer sovereignty: The Australian experience.Monash University Law Review,252, p.254. De Stadler, E., 2013.Consumer law unlocked. SiberInk. Latimer, P., 2012.Australian Business Law 2012. CCH Australia Limited. Pearson, G., 2017. Further challenges for Australian consumer law. InConsumer Law and Socioeconomic Development(pp. 287-305). Springer, Cham. Ramsay, I., 2012.Consumer law and policy: Text and materials on regulating consumer markets. Bloomsbury Publishing. Richards, C., Lawrence, G., Loong, M. and Burch, D., 2012. A toothless chihuahua? The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, neoliberalism and supermarket power in Australia.Rural Society,21(3), pp.250-263.