The cosmetic, clothing, footwear, and food and drink industries have the highest levels of misleading claims around greenwashing, says Australia’s consumer watchdog. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on March 2 revealed that of the 247 businesses investigated, over half (57 percent) were “vague or unclear” about their environmental credentials. This practice is called…

New South Wales Labor will cap road tolls at $60 a week if it wins the March state election, as the party seeks to overhaul the bloated toll network and press infrastructure operators for a better deal. Over 50,000 drivers would be better off under the plan, saving around A$147 million (US$101.62 million) over its…

Economists have predicted that Australian retailers will see their sales slowing down in the second half of 2022 as consumers are reducing their spending due to living cost pressures and interest rate hikes. In its latest quarterly retail forecasts report, Deloitte Access Economics said it was likely that most of the growth in retail revenue…

Australian authorities have taken court action against online accommodation marketplace Airbnb for alleged misleading pricing practices. In a new statement, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that between January 2018 and August 2021, Airbnb did not clarify that the prices displayed on its website for Australian accommodation were in U.S. dollars, causing consumers…

Australia’s consumer watchdog has started to scrutinise product rankings on online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Kogan for potential unfair competition practices. After imposing tens of millions of dollars in penalties on hotel booking site Trivago and ride-sharing and food delivery mobile app Uber for misleading customers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)…

Australia’s consumer watchdog has filed a lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company Meta over cryptocurrency scam ads, which conned AU$100 million (US$73.83 million) from Australians last year. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has filed the legal action in the Federal Court of Australia, alleging the tech giant knew scam ads were running on Facebook…

The Australian Federal Police has launched an investigation into rapid antigen test (RAT) price gouging and has warned that individuals and businesses selling COVID-19 tests for more than 20 percent of the original retail purchase rate will face five years’ imprisonment or a $66,000 fine. AFP Assistant Commissioner Crime Command Nigel Ryan said there would be…

The Australian consumer watchdog said the current global supply chain crisis is putting “intense pressure” on Australian exporters and importers, meaning people planning to import Christmas gifts should finalise their purchases early. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Container Stevedoring Monitoring Report 2020-21 revealed that a number of Australian exporters are currently struggling to…

Recent price increases by the three biggest telco companies mean millions of Australians will be paying more for their mobile phone plans. New analysis by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has found that since July 2020, Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone has pushed up the prices of many post-paid plans. These three telco companies…

The Australian Federal Court has found Google guilty of misleading customers about personal location data collection on android mobile devices in a world-first enforcement action by the country’s consumer watchdog. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been pursuing legal action against Google’s “misleading conduct” since Oct. 2019. “This is an important victory for consumers,…