Submission | Australian Consumer Law Review

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the review of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) issues paper.

The Australian Chamber considers that the ACL is working well and provides an appropriate balance between the needs of consumers and business.

The implementation of the ACL represents a successful reform, replacing 17 existing Commonwealth, state and territory laws and providing a single generic national consumer protection law.

The ACL has provided businesses with an aligned system of consumer protection across the country, reducing business’ compliance costs and allowing for a consistent approach across jurisdictions.

The law supports the operation of efficient, well-functioning markets. It encourages economic activity by increasing levels of trust, reducing information asymmetries and ensuring that consumers can be confident that goods and services are safe and fit for purpose.

This post implementation review provides a timely opportunity to ensure that the ACL is operating as intended and to improve the workability of the laws.

This Australian Chamber submission focusses on the high level operation of the ACL and comments on a number of broad issues. We expect that many of our members will be making submissions focusing on more specific sectoral issues.

The Australian Chamber considers that the review should not seek to make significant changes to the ACL framework. Rather it should focus on improving the accessibility, workability, awareness and efficiency of the ACL, and on reducing compliance costs.

Any proposed measures to strengthen consumer protections must take into account compliance costs and be subject to rigorous cost benefit analysis.