Decision Regulation Impact Statement – Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs
On 26 October 2018, the Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs agreed to amendments to the consumer guarantees framework within the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The amendments arise from a review of the ACL that found the ACL to be generally beneficial and fit-for-purpose, but there were some ongoing difficulties with the operation of the consumer guarantee provisions.
Forum members agreed to:
- Raise the monetary threshold in the ACL definition of ‘consumer’ from $40,000 to $100,000.
- Clarify the existing provisions that multiple non-major consumer guarantee failures can amount to a major failure.
- Introduce a cooling off right and enhanced disclosure for extended warranties.
Ministers further agreed that the extended warranty changes will be subject to a post-implementation review of their effectiveness after two years.
A Decision Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared by the Commonwealth Department of the Treasury and assessed as compliant with Council of Australian Government RIS requirements by the Office of Best Practice Regulation. The Treasury previously released a Regulation Impact Statement for Consultation.