New South Wales consumers and businesses will be the winners when the Australian Consumer Law takes effect throughout the country in 2011, Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge said today.

Ms Judge said the bill passed in the NSW Parliament today amends the Fair Trading Act to apply the Australian Consumer Law as a law of New South Wales.

“This is ground-breaking legislation,” she said.

“One modern law will replace inconsistent provisions in 20 state and territory statutes and in the Trade Practices Act.

“Consumers will have the same level of protection, regardless of where they live and a single national law will reduce regulatory complexity for business.”

The Australian Consumer Law is based on the consumer protection provisions of the Commonwealth Trade Practices Act, many of which are mirrored in the NSW Fair Trading Act.

Ms Judge said that as a result, NSW businesses would be complying with familiar rules against misleading or deceptive conduct, unfair practices and unfair contract terms.

“The important change is that there are new penalties, enforcement powers and remedies and they will apply to the same misconduct, regardless of the jurisdiction in which it occurs,” she said.

“The Commonwealth, States and Territories are partners in enforcing the new law.

“Scam merchants had better watch out, as there will be unprecedented levels of cooperation among regulators.”

Ms Judge said governments agreed that the Australian Consumer Law should include best practice provisions from States and Territories.

“New South Wales has long been a leader in consumer protection and fair trading and I am pleased that existing state protections have not been lost in moving to a national law,” she said.

“All Australian consumers and small businesses will now benefit from NSW laws regulating lay-by sales, telemarketing, multiples pricing and false billing.

“NSW consumers will benefit from new national rules on selling in the home that will prevent unwanted door-knocking after 6pm.

”Ms Judge said the new national product safety system would provide consistent protection from unsafe products for all Australians, no matter where they lived.

“At the same time, under the new law, NSW still has the ability to act quickly to deal with unsafe goods found in the local marketplace,” she said.

“One of the most exciting reforms is the creation of a clearer, simpler set of statutory consumer guarantees so that consumers better understand their rights and are not ripped off by suppliers of sub-standard products and services.”

Consumer group CHOICE supported the Minister's comments. Spokesman Christopher Zinn said: "The Australian Consumer Law is a landmark reform. It ends the "different rail gauges" problem that undermined consumer protection but also delivers significant new rights and the enforcement powers regulators need to make the laws work in practice.

"CHOICE congratulates the Ministers from around the country for having the foresight and determination to get these reforms through.

"We now look forward to working with the ACCC, NSW DFT and other consumer agencies to get information out to consumers and traders and to ensure the law delivers real improvements in the marketplace."

The Australian Consumer Law will take full effect on 1 January 2011.

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