Key Documents
The government is seeking feedback on new penalties for businesses that:
- do not give consumers a remedy when required
- do not reimburse a supplier when required or
- retaliate against suppliers who ask to be reimbursed.
Your feedback will inform advice to government on the design of proposed civil prohibitions and penalties.
Consumer guarantees
Consumers have legal rights when they buy goods or services that break or do not work properly. These rights are called ‘consumer guarantees’.
When a good or service does not meet a consumer guarantee, the consumer may be entitled to a remedy such as a:
- repair
- replacement
- refund
- compensation
- cancellation of contract.
Supplier indemnification
A manufacturer must refund the supplier for the cost of giving a consumer guarantees remedy, including any compensation. This is called ‘supplier indemnification’.
Related work
This consultation builds upon a 2021 consultation on options to improve:
- the effectiveness of the consumer guarantees
- supplier indemnification provisions.
Responding
You can submit responses to this consultation up until 14 November 2024. Interested parties are invited to comment on this consultation.
While submissions may be lodged electronically or by post, electronic lodgement is preferred. For accessibility reasons, please submit responses sent via email in a Word or RTF format. An additional PDF version may also be submitted.
All information (including name and address details) contained in submissions will be made available to the public on the Treasury website unless you indicate that you would like all or part of your submission to remain in confidence. Automatically generated confidentiality statements in emails do not suffice for this purpose. Respondents who would like part of their submission to remain in confidence should provide this information marked as such in a separate attachment.
Legal requirements, such as those imposed by the Freedom of Information Act 1982, may affect the confidentiality of your submission.
View our submission guidelines for further information.
How To Respond
Post
Address written submissions to:
Consumer Policy Unit
Market Conduct Division
Treasury
Langton Cres
Parkes ACT 2600
Enquiries
Email: consumerlaw@treasury.gov.au