Latest news with #JusticeNeskovcin
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
NAB hit with $15 million fine following shameful act towards struggling Aussies
NAB and its subsidiary AFSH Nominees Pty Ltd have been ordered to pay $15.5 million following a Federal Court case decision made on Wednesday. The big four bank was fined following an investigation where it had failed to respond to hundreds of Australians doing it financially tough. Between 2018 and 2023, NAB and AFSH did not respond to 345 hardship applications within the required 21-day timeframe. Affected customers were left unaware for more than three weeks and didn't know if they would be given leniency. "These failures likely made an already challenging time in people's lives far worse," Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) Deputy Chair Sarah Court said. "This decision highlights the seriousness of the failures of NAB and AFSH to support their customers experiencing financial hardship. "This penalty sends an important message to other financial institutions – customers should be at the centre of what you do.' Justice Penny Neskovcin said affected customers had asked NAB for help in relation to medical emergencies, family violence, natural disasters, redundancy, and business failures. Justice Neskovcin added NAB and AFSH breached provisions of the National Credit Code. None of the 346 customers who didn't hear back in the required time frame suffered any losses. Justice Neskovcin said the situation could have been helped 'If NAB had provided the affected NAB customers and AFSH customers with the required notices in response to their hardship notices within the prescribed timeframes'. NAB was ordered to pay $13 million while AFSH Nominees will fork out $2.5 million, as well as ASIC's court costs. They will also be required to publish a publicity notice on their website and provide a copy of the notice to affected customers. The notice will provide customers the details of Justice Neskovcin's court order. 'The failures resulted (with a few limited exceptions) from the incorrect use by NAB staff of a particular functionality in its internal system used to manage hardship notices,' the notice reads. 'The causes have since been identified, and NAB has taken steps to address those causes. 'Since ASIC commenced court proceedings, NAB and AFSH have provided affected customers with a response to their hardship notice and conducted a remediation program which included remediation payments and the correction of repayment history information for some affected customers.' has reached out to NAB for comment. Meanwhile, much needed relief arrived on Tuesday as the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates for the third time of 2025. The central bank lowered the cash rate from 3.85 per cent to 3.6 per cent. The National Debt Helpline revealed over 168,000 people reached out for help in the 2024-25 financial year, making it the biggest spike in numbers since 2018-19.
The Guardian
14-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Garbage bag giant fined $8.25m for falsely claiming products were recycled plastic
The company behind GLAD garbage bags has been fined $8.25m for falsely claiming the products were made from recycled ocean plastics. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took Clorox Australia to the federal court over the misleading claims made between June 2021 and July 2023. Clorox had marketed and supplied the kitchen and garbage bags as being made from 50% recycled plastic waste collected from the ocean or sea. Instead, the bags were comprised of recycled plastic that had been collected from communities in Indonesia situated up to 50km from the shoreline. Clorox sold more than 2.2m bags during the offending period, with the price for each item generally higher than its standard range of household kitchen bags. The company discontinued supply after the consumer watchdog started investigating and the products are no longer supplied in Australia. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Clorox admitted the '50% ocean plastic recycled' claims displayed on the bag packaging were misleading and worked with the ACCC to reach an agreed penalty. Federal court judge Penelope Neskovcin enforced the $8.25m fine on Monday after finding Clorox had engaged in greenwashing. 'The (misleading claims) deprived consumers of the opportunity to make informed purchasing decisions, free from the false impression conveyed,' the judgment read. 'Consumers might have purchased alternative products, including from Clorox's competitors, and may have purchased products that offered substantiated environmental benefits or that were cheaper.' The judge accepted that while the conduct was serious, it was not the most serious case of environmental misrepresentations. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'Clorox genuinely believed the products would contribute to the reduction of plastic waste in the ocean and did not deliberately engage in a strategy to mislead consumers,' the judgment read. Justice Neskovcin noted Clorox had discussed recycled plastics with its supplier Oceanworks and considered 'ocean-bound' plastics to be a kind of ocean plastics. But the judge determined the company knew the recycled plastics were not collected or recovered directly from the ocean or sea. As part of the penalty, Clorox will have to pay $200,000 of the consumer watchdog's legal costs and publish a corrective note, explaining the offending and apologising to consumers. A Clorox Australia spokesperson said the company took seriously its obligations to package and market products with accurate claims. 'We respect this outcome and see this as an opportunity to further enhance our practices and reaffirm our commitment to offering products that help reduce environmental impact and meet consumers' evolving needs,' the statement read.
