Latest news with #AustralianConsumerLaw
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Driver's $200 fuel cost exposes Aussie car hire company: 'Said it was our fault'
Welcome to legal column where lawyers Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn tackle problems everyday Aussies face — whether it be consumer, property, money matters impacting relationships or work. This week, a holidaymaker feels ripped off by a car hire service. Question I booked a hire car through a third-party website for a recent trip and specifically booked a hybrid as we'd be covering a lot of kilometres. The booking said it would be a Toyota Corolla hybrid "or similar". The car hire place was a bit chaotic and they just handed us the keys and told us to find it in the car park. It wasn't until we had driven away that I realised it wasn't a hybrid. We spent over $200 on fuel and when I took the car back the manager was really rude and said there was nothing they could do and it was our fault for not noticing sooner. Is there anything I can do to claim some money back? Answer Booking a hire car can sometimes lead to unexpected issues and frustration, especially when the vehicle provided does not match the description promised at the time of booking. When you hire a car, you enter into a contract with the car hire company. This contract is based on the terms and conditions outlined on the website at the time of Bank of Mum and Dad warning over common mortgage issue: 'Seek legal advice immediately' Australia's most in-demand jobs revealed with $125,000 salaries up for grabs $1,831 Centrelink payment change coming within weeks Further, under the Australian Consumer Law, consumers are entitled to certain guarantees when they purchase goods and services. These guarantees include that the goods will match the description provided at the time of booking. If the booking confirmation stated that you would receive a Toyota Corolla hybrid "or similar', the car hire company is obligated to provide a car that meets this description. If they fail to do so, they may be in breach of contract or the Australian Consumer Law. Review the booking confirmation: Carefully check your booking confirmation and any terms and conditions (likely emailed to you) provided by the third-party website. You should specifically look for any clauses related to vehicle type and substitutions. Gather evidence: Collect all relevant documentation, including the booking confirmation, receipts for fuel expenses, notes of conversations and any correspondence with the car hire company. This evidence will be crucial if you need to pursue a legal remedy. Contact the car hire company: Write a formal complaint to the car hire company using their internal dispute resolution service, outlining the issue and requesting reimbursement for the additional fuel costs. Be sure to reference the contract and include all evidence. Escalate the complaint: If you can't resolve it with the car hire company, escalate the complaint to the third-party website through which you made the booking. They may have a dispute resolution process you can use. If your dispute remains unresolved there are more formal avenues you can pursue. The Australian Car Rental Conciliation Service provides a free mechanism for resolving disputes between disgruntled customers and certain car rental companies that have agreed to abide by the Car Rental Code. Additionally, you can report the issue to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which oversees consumer protection. They may investigate the complaint, however won't assist in resolving the dispute or requiring a refund or compensation be paid to you. Finally, each state and territory has their own Civil and Administrative Tribunal which will allow you to lodge a claim against the car rental company to claim your money back. There is often a small fee to lodge a claim, so you'll need to consider the cost of that compared to your actual loss to ensure it is financially worthwhile lodging a claim. This legal information is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific legal advice. If you need legal advice, you should consult a solicitor.
Sydney Morning Herald
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news LIVE: Religious sect given voter data, carbon neutral energy bills on trial
Latest posts Latest posts 7.07am This isn't Ley's first hospital pass The making of Sussan Ley as a federal cabinet minister came a decade ago when she was given a classic hospital pass, writes David Crowe. Ley was made the minister for health just seven months after Tony Abbott and his government unveiled a deeply unpopular federal budget in May 2014, with $80 billion in cuts to hospitals and schools. The health minister, Peter Dutton, was shifted out of the portfolio in record time and Ley was brought in to change policy and limit the political damage. It was a thankless task. The Coalition never recovered from that divisive budget, but Ley worked hard to neutralise the problems. After a leadership coup brought Malcolm Turnbull to power, the Coalition narrowly won the 2016 election. Ley is now dealing with an even uglier hospital pass. She is replacing Dutton, once again, but this time on a near-hopeless political mission. She is being asked to rebuild the Liberal Party, demolish the Labor Party and win the next election. It looks impossible. 7.07am 'Carbon neutral' energy bills on trial By Bianca Hall More than 400,000 Australians who signed up to power company EnergyAustralia's Go Neutral scheme were assured they were supporting a worthy cause. 'You're doing good things for the environment', the glossy brochure said. Under the scheme, which EnergyAustralia has since taken the 'commercial decision' to close, the company would offset the carbon emissions produced by customers' domestic gas and electricity use. In the process, they could bank some goodwill. Loading The Federal Court on Wednesday will be asked to test whether the energy giant's promotion of 'carbon-neutral' products amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct; a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law. Under one scenario, EnergyAustralia told customers, it would buy carbon credits from a geothermal development in Indonesia and use those credits to offset customers' domestic energy use in Australia. Under another scenario, planned grass burns in Arnhem Land would be considered to 'offset' any potential emissions generated from large bushfires that could theoretically break out in the Top End if the planned burns had not taken place. Read the full report here. 7.07am Religious sect given access to voter data by Libs By Max Maddison and Paul Sakkal The federal Liberal Party handed over sensitive voter information to the Exclusive Brethren as part of a mammoth phone campaign in which members of the secretive Christian religious sect made nearly a million calls on behalf of the Coalition in the run-up to the federal election. Multiple sources in the NSW Liberal Party confirmed the keys to the communication software Feedback – which logs every electorate office's engagement with constituents, resulting in a cache of sensitive voter information including contact details – were handed to members of the Brethren. Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential party matters, Liberal sources said one of Peter Dutton's senior advisers was the 'point person' for co-ordinating the Brethren's involvement within the party's campaign. Discouraged from voting as part of their religious beliefs, hundreds of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) members turned out at dozens of pre-poll booths campaigning for the Coalition. This included Gareth Hales, the wealthy son of the church's founder Bruce, who was photographed at an Eastwood pre-polling site wearing the campaign shirt of Liberal Bennelong candidate Scott Yung two days before the election. 7.07am What you need to know Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of today's national news stories. I'm Ben Cubby, and I'll be with you for the morning. It's Wednesday, May 14. Here's what's making news. Secretive religious sect Exclusive Brethren made nearly a million calls supporting the Liberals in the federal election and were given access to sensitive voter data. EnergyAustralia is accused of misleading around 400,000 customers over 'carbon-neutral' bills, with a Federal Court case underway today. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has promised to be an inclusive leader who seeks to heal divisions in Liberal ranks after her narrow win in the party's leadership ballot. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heads to Indonesia for trade talks today, before travelling to the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV. Scores of accounts of abuse and unreasonable discipline against babies and toddlers in NSW childcare centres have been revealed in documents obtained by a Greens MP.
The Age
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Australia news LIVE: Religious sect given voter data, carbon neutral energy bills on trial
Latest posts Latest posts 7.07am This isn't Ley's first hospital pass The making of Sussan Ley as a federal cabinet minister came a decade ago when she was given a classic hospital pass, writes David Crowe. Ley was made the minister for health just seven months after Tony Abbott and his government unveiled a deeply unpopular federal budget in May 2014, with $80 billion in cuts to hospitals and schools. The health minister, Peter Dutton, was shifted out of the portfolio in record time and Ley was brought in to change policy and limit the political damage. It was a thankless task. The Coalition never recovered from that divisive budget, but Ley worked hard to neutralise the problems. After a leadership coup brought Malcolm Turnbull to power, the Coalition narrowly won the 2016 election. Ley is now dealing with an even uglier hospital pass. She is replacing Dutton, once again, but this time on a near-hopeless political mission. She is being asked to rebuild the Liberal Party, demolish the Labor Party and win the next election. It looks impossible. 7.07am 'Carbon neutral' energy bills on trial By Bianca Hall More than 400,000 Australians who signed up to power company EnergyAustralia's Go Neutral scheme were assured they were supporting a worthy cause. 'You're doing good things for the environment', the glossy brochure said. Under the scheme, which EnergyAustralia has since taken the 'commercial decision' to close, the company would offset the carbon emissions produced by customers' domestic gas and electricity use. In the process, they could bank some goodwill. Loading The Federal Court on Wednesday will be asked to test whether the energy giant's promotion of 'carbon-neutral' products amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct; a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law. Under one scenario, EnergyAustralia told customers, it would buy carbon credits from a geothermal development in Indonesia and use those credits to offset customers' domestic energy use in Australia. Under another scenario, planned grass burns in Arnhem Land would be considered to 'offset' any potential emissions generated from large bushfires that could theoretically break out in the Top End if the planned burns had not taken place. Read the full report here. 7.07am Religious sect given access to voter data by Libs By Max Maddison and Paul Sakkal The federal Liberal Party handed over sensitive voter information to the Exclusive Brethren as part of a mammoth phone campaign in which members of the secretive Christian religious sect made nearly a million calls on behalf of the Coalition in the run-up to the federal election. Multiple sources in the NSW Liberal Party confirmed the keys to the communication software Feedback – which logs every electorate office's engagement with constituents, resulting in a cache of sensitive voter information including contact details – were handed to members of the Brethren. Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential party matters, Liberal sources said one of Peter Dutton's senior advisers was the 'point person' for co-ordinating the Brethren's involvement within the party's campaign. Discouraged from voting as part of their religious beliefs, hundreds of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) members turned out at dozens of pre-poll booths campaigning for the Coalition. This included Gareth Hales, the wealthy son of the church's founder Bruce, who was photographed at an Eastwood pre-polling site wearing the campaign shirt of Liberal Bennelong candidate Scott Yung two days before the election. 7.07am What you need to know Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of today's national news stories. I'm Ben Cubby, and I'll be with you for the morning. It's Wednesday, May 14. Here's what's making news. Secretive religious sect Exclusive Brethren made nearly a million calls supporting the Liberals in the federal election and were given access to sensitive voter data. EnergyAustralia is accused of misleading around 400,000 customers over 'carbon-neutral' bills, with a Federal Court case underway today. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has promised to be an inclusive leader who seeks to heal divisions in Liberal ranks after her narrow win in the party's leadership ballot. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heads to Indonesia for trade talks today, before travelling to the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV. Scores of accounts of abuse and unreasonable discipline against babies and toddlers in NSW childcare centres have been revealed in documents obtained by a Greens MP.
ABC News
06-05-2025
- ABC News
Hungry Jack's fined for putting 27,000 toys with button batteries in meals without warning
One of Australia's largest fast food outlets has been accused of "putting a loaded gun" in front of children across the country after breaking button battery laws. Hungry Jack's dispatched 27,850 Garfield toys powered by button batteries over 10 days in May last year, before recalling them. The fast food chain was fined $150,240 for breaching Australian Consumer Law. ( AAP: Mick Tsikas ) They included no warning about the button batteries the toys contained or the risk they posed to children. The toys otherwise complied with the national safety standard. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has the power to fine companies up to $10 million for breaches of consumer law, or 10 per cent of annual turnover, depending on which is higher. Aside from the lack of warning, the toys complied with the national safety standard. ( Supplied: ACCC ) Hungry Jack's had an estimated revenue close to $2 billion last financial year. For this breach, the ACCC In a statement, Hungry Jack's said it took "immediate steps to stop distribution, issue a product recall" and contact its suppliers and authorities last year. 'Catastrophic injuries' possible Andrea Shoesmith's four-year-old daughter Summer Steer died on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in 2013 after ingesting a button battery. Ms Shoesmith has since campaigned against their use in Australia, which helped usher in new laws in 2023. Andrea Shoesmith's daughter Summer Steer, 4, died in 2013 after swallowing a button battery. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Amy Sheehan ) She said for Hungry Jack's to pay such a small fine relative to its revenue was "disgusting". "If they've given out 27,000 of them, don't tell me there's not going to be one child affected by it, because there will be," she said. The lithium button batteries are about the size of a 10-cent piece, and if swallowed can burn a hole through the oesophagus, and into organs or the spine. "It's like a loaded gun," Ms Shoesmith said. "You go to Hungry Jack's and get a meal and get a loaded gun, and just hope for the best." Summer Steer, from the Sunshine Coast, became the first child to die in Australia from swallowing a button in 2013. ( Supplied: Andrea Shoesmith ) Kidsafe Queensland chief executive Susan Teerds said unless someone realised immediately that a battery had been swallowed, it may take time for symptoms to show. Photo shows An x-ray of a baby who swallowed a button battery. Baby Adèle is now on the road to recovery, but two months ago she was in intensive care after swallowing a button battery. "Particularly if the button battery is now flat, it might not work your remote control to the garage door but it can still cause catastrophic injuries," she said. Ms Teerds said even if the toys officially met the standard, they remained dangerous. "Just because a product has a screw-down battery compartment, it doesn't mean that it is still a safe product," she said. " I would avoid any products with button batteries if you've got children or dogs in your household. " Susan Teerds says people should keep button batteries out of their homes. ( ABC News ) Ms Shoesmith feared that even parents who were aware of the danger of button batteries may not know the Garfield toys had them because there was no warning. "There will be some child that gets sick or dies from it, like Summer," she said. "They just shouldn't be available at all, let alone putting them in child's packaging from Hungry Jack's. That's ridiculous." If someone believes a child has ingested a battery, they should call the Poisons Information Centre on 131126. ABC Sunshine — local news in your inbox Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Wednesday Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
Sky News AU
06-05-2025
- Sky News AU
Hungry Jack's slapped with $150k fine after children's meal toy allegedly in breach of button battery information standards
Hungry Jack's has been forced to pay hefty fines totalling $150,240 after a Garfield toy with children's meals allegedly did not include adequate button battery warnings. The fast food franchise was slapped with the massive penalties for allegedly breaching Australian Consumer Law by failing to comply with the mandatory button battery information standard. Eight infringement notices issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warned the button battery-powered Garfield toy did not have essential warnings and information. More than 27, 800 toys were supplied nationwide between 20 May and 30 May 2024 in Hungry Jack's children's meals. The toys complied with safety protocol, however they allegedly failed to adhere to information standards as they did not advise consumers that they contained button batteries. Further, they did not provide relevant warnings about the possible life-threatening hazards the batteries pose nor advice about what to do if a child ingested one. 'The ACCC has also accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Hungry Jack's in which it admitted the Garfield toy is likely to have failed to comply with the button battery information standard,' a media release from the ACCC read. The toy was recalled mid-2024 with consumers advised to stop using it immediately and put it out of reach of children. Anyone who received the toy is advised to return it to their nearest Hungry Jack's for a replacement one. The ACCC warns button batteries are appealing for young children to swallow as they are small, round and shiny. However, they can prove to be fatal, bringing a "significant risk or serious injury or death" in as little as two hours if they become stuck in a child's throat. 'Button batteries are extremely dangerous for young children and tragically, children have been seriously injured or died from swallowing or ingesting them,' said ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe. 'The ACCC continues to see non-compliant products on the market which pose unacceptable safety risks to vulnerable young children. We take non-compliance with these important standards seriously and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where appropriate.' The ACCC said Hungry Jack's has taken steps to establish and implement a compliance program to reduce the risk of future breaches. Businesses supplying products with button batteries are forced to comply with both safety and information standards. Safety standards include that the products are sold in child resistant packaging and contain secure battery compartments to prevent children from accessing batteries. About 20 children go to hospital each year with suspected battery ingestion, with three reported deaths in the last decade in Australia.
