Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

(1) Page 2 (after line 14), after clause 3, insert:

4 Review of amendments made by this Bill

(1) The Minister must cause to be conducted a review of the operation of the amendments made by this Act (including their effect on consumers and small businesses).

(2) The review must start no later than 2 years after this section commences.

(3) The persons who conduct the review must give the Minister a written report of the review within 6 months of the commencement of the review.

(4) The Minister must cause a copy of the report of the review to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report.

This amendment to the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Fair Go for Consumers and Small Business) Bill 2024 is simple. It simply inserts a review clause to assess how the legislation is working within two years. This is good process. This is good governance to ensure that this fast-track priority triage process is not leading, ultimately, to a change of purpose of the ACCC, whereby these designated complainants are getting an undue priority over ordinary consumer and customer complaints, or from other small businesses. It will also enable a review by the government to ensure that these designated complainants are not unfairly taking advantage of the position it puts them in to be able to get priority in complaint consideration and review. As I said previously, these bodies are often fee-for-membership organisations, and there is nothing currently that really protects consumers and customers to still have the opportunity for their complaints to be considered and fast-tracked if they choose not to be within these organisations.

I appreciate the benefit for government or for the ACCC to try and create this triage and priority process, but, ultimately, the purpose of the ACCC is to ensure customer choice and a complaints review mechanism when it comes to consumers, and I think it is very important that that remains the case. Many who submitted in the consultation process have expressed similar concerns. It is worth highlighting the concerns of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, COSBOA. They did note several concerns such as the possible restriction on the number of designated complaints being relatively small, and I note the number of complainants will appear in the forthcoming instrument.

I urge the government to maintain an open mind on this further consultation and on the time line of the ACCC responding to a designated complaint—and whether or not it will actually pursue the complaint and investigate it—and notifying the complainant of its decision regarding that complaint within 90 days. Such complaints may need more urgent action, marking such a time line as too broad. So there are legitimate concerns as to how this may well operate and those concerns can be very sensibly addressed by having a legislated review period of two years so that we can actually flesh out and see whether or not the legislation is working as intended in terms of assisting with dealing with the case load and a more timely consideration of consumer and customer complaints.

Reviewing legislation is a good thing; it is what we are in this place to do. I support the bill but I am also mindful that review to ensure it is working as intended is incredibly important. I note the assistant minister is here, so I would ask the assistant minister not only whether the government will support the amendment but also why not have a review period to ensure that we are protecting this consumer and customer complaints investigation and consideration process?

Small businesses, as he just told this place, are the backbone of our economy. There is more the government could be doing to support small businesses. So, again I say, support this amendment to ensure there is a review, to ensure that this process is back on the agenda for the government within two years and ensure it doesn't slip through the cracks.

We are reviewing whether or not our customer and consumer complaints measure is working through the ACCC to ensure choice, to ensure their rights are protected. The question of duopolies and the lack of competition in certain markets, from airlines to supermarkets, we know, are very much in the news at the moment, so it is incredibly important that we have an ACCC that is fit for purpose. I ask the minister and I urge the government to improve the bill with the amendment to ensure a review period.

Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am grateful to be working with all members of the parliament, particularly the member for Warringah, to shape the program and to ensure that the designated complaints measure works as well as intended. The government will not be supporting the amendment, and I will take a couple of minutes of the House's time to explain why. We do believe strongly in effective evaluation and, indeed, the establishment of the Australian Centre for Evaluation is a marker of the Albanese government's commitment to improving the quality of evaluation. New reviews of frameworks are important, and settling the appropriate timing of those frameworks can be a matter for judgment to ensure that the review takes sufficient account of the way in which the program has rolled out. So there will be a review that takes place in due course.

The member also made a number of comments in her speech, which I think went to important issues as to how the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission responds to complaints from the public. I thought it might assist the House to address some of those questions.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission receives over 400,000 complaints or contacts from the public each year. They go through an extensive triage process, which, according to the most recent data from the ACCC, involved 225 assessments completed, 132 initial investigations completed, 70 in-depth investigations completed and 32 enforcement interventions.

It is worth noting that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission cannot pursue all matters that come to their attention and that in administering the Australian competition law the ACCC works closely with state and territory consumer affairs agencies. It's those consumer affairs agencies that are responsible for enforcing the Australian consumer law, and therefore the role of the ACCC is in determining the appropriate compliance and enforcement actions to be taken. In general, the ACCC looks at its intelligence to inform identification of serious and systemic breaches of the Competition and Consumer Act and the Australian consumer law.

I'm happy to expand on the ACCC's complaints handling mechanisms, if that's useful to honourable members, as the consideration in detail debate unfolds.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As it is necessary to resolve this question to enable further questions to be considered in relation to this bill, in accordance with standing order 195, the bill will be returned to the House for further consideration.