The Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC), also known as Consumer Action, is primarily a campaign-focused consumer advocacy organisation, but also acts as a

community legal centre A community legal centre (CLC) is the Australian term for an independent not-for-profit organisation providing legal aid services, that is, provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court ...

, providing free legal advice and pursuing litigation on behalf of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers across Victoria, Australia. Based in Melbourne, it was formed in 2006 by the merger of the Consumer Law Centre Victoria and the Consumer Credit Legal Service and is funded jointly by Victoria Legal Aid and

Consumer Affairs Victoria Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) is a government agency that protects and promotes the interests of consumers and is based in the Australian state of Victoria. It is responsible for reviewing and advising the Victorian Government on consumer legi ...

. Its mission is "just outcomes, for and with consumers". The organisation is national in its policy and advocacy work, while its services primarily service people residing in Victoria. CALC pursues a law reform agenda across a range of consumer issues at a governmental level, in the media, and throughout the community directly. It is represented on a number of national and state-based regulators' consumer consultative committees, including the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission and the Australian Energy Regulator as well as a range of government, industry and community sector working groups, boards, and consultative committees.

Noteworthy casework and campaigns

Vocational education/VET FEE-HELP

The Centre played a leading role in uncovering the VET-FEE HELP scandals that plagued the vocational education sector in Australia from 2010-2016, with CEO Gerard Brody advising the Australian Government on reforms to the scandal plagued sector.

Do Not Knock

"Do Not Knock" was one of the Centre's most influential campaigns, providing Australians with stickers to halt the activities of door-to-door and unsolicited salespeople. The campaign led to a

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

ruling that found a "do not knock" sticker was a legally enforceable notice and meant significant fines for companies that ignored the notices.

Payday loans

The Centre has had long running campaigns against the payday lending industry, including a campaign to introduce a cap on the cost of payday loans and casework that led to a major industry player having to notify the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

Insurance

In 2016, the Centre launched "DemandARefund.com" a complaint letter generator and campaign to fight the selling of poor value Consumer Credit Insurance, Gap Insurance and Used Car Extended Warranties. The campaign followed similar scandals in the UK over Payment Protection Insurance with the Centre's own research showing Australians were being sold over $70m in "junk" Consumer Credit Insurance yearly. By September 2016, Australians had generated letters complaining about over $300,000 worth of policies.

References

Government of Victoria - Consumer Affairs Victoria Media Centre - Victoria's New $3.4M Consumer Law Centre Unveiled - Wednesday October 18, 2006Victoria Department of Justice - New Consumer Law Centre Launched. 19 Oct 2006
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External links

Consumer Action Law Centre
Organisations based in Melbourne Legal organisations based in Australia Legal aid Consumer protection in Australia