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The Consumers' Federation of Australia (CFA) is Australia's umbrella consumer advocacy group. As an organisation, CFA has over 30 organisational members ranging from large national organisations like
CHOICE A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate Motivation, motivators and Choice modelling, models. Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or arti ...
and COTA Australia to legal centres, financial counselling organisations, research institutions, and state-based consumer organisations. CFA is a full member of
Consumers International Consumers International is the membership organization for consumer groups around the world. Founded on 1 April 1960, it has over 250 member organizations in 120 countries. Its head office is situated in London, England, and has numerous region ...
, the international peak body for the world’s consumer organisations. CFA is an association incorporated in the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...
, and is registered as a charity with the
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the regulatory authority for charities and not-for-profit organisations within Australia. The Commission was established in December 2012 as part of the ''Australian Charitie ...
.


History

In the early 1960s the
Australian Consumers Association Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...
unsuccessfully attempted to establish state and territory branches. The first state or territory based consumer organisation was Canberra Consumers, established in 1963 by
Michael Vernon Michael J. Vernon, Order of Australia, AM (2 April 1932 – 6 November 1993) was a prominent Australian consumer rights activist. Vernon was born in Portsmouth, United Kingdom in 1932 to John Ernest Vernon (a writer in the Royal Navy) and ...
, Godfrey Linge and Bill Howitt. By the late 1970s most states and territories had their own consumer group. It soon became apparent that lack of coordinated action by these consumer lobby groups was obstructing political change. With the election of
Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...
and the Labor Government in 1972, the Government encouraged the disparate consumer groups to join together and form the Australian Federation of Consumer Organisations (AFCO). In 1974 after a meeting of 27 consumer groups, led by the Australian Consumers' Association and Canberra Consumers, a constitution was drafted and AFCO was officially founded. AFCO's foundation membership included Canberra Consumers, the
Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is a women's organisation in Australia, which seeks to advance interests of women, families, and communities in Australia, especially those in rural, regional, and remote areas. It comprises seven indep ...
, the Australian Consumers Association and the Consumer Action Movement. In 1994, for ease of reference, AFCO was renamed the Consumers' Federation of Australia (CFA). During the 1980s and early 1990s, CFA had a nine-member staffing contingent based in Canberra. However, in 1996, the newly elected Howard Federal Government defunded the CFA. After the defunding decision, the CFA had only one part-time paid staff member. And after twelve months, the only staff members remaining were voluntary. CFA continues to operate to this day, but primarily as a voluntary organisation.


Present

CFA’s activities include supporting communication and networking among its members and consumer advocates; nominating and appointing consumer representatives to various boards, committees, and forums; and advocating on nationally important consumer issues.


Supporting members

CFA maintains a website that includes consumer news and updates from CFA members, regulators, and policymakers. It also regularly issues newsletters and hosts webinars for members. In recent years, CFA has delivered a mentoring program, to support the professional development of consumer advocates. The goals of the mentoring program are to improve participant’s effectiveness as a consumer advocate, and to facilitate a network of alumni who are well placed to take up consumer representative roles in the future.


Consumer representation

One way in which CFA advances the consumer interest is through nominating and supporting consumer representatives who sit on government, community and industry councils, boards and committees, where many of the decisions which affect consumers are made. CFA also provides consumer representatives to
Standards Australia Standards Australia is a standards organisation established in 1922 and is recognised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Australian government as the primary non-government standards development body in Australia. It is a co ...
committees, which set safety and quality standards for product and services. CFA co-chairs an annual consumer advocacy sector stakeholder meeting with the Consumer Senior Officials Network, which consists of the most relevant senior official from each of the Commonwealth Treasury, the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...
, the
Australian Securities & Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...
, and state, territory and New Zealand agencies responsible for consumer affairs.


Consumer advocacy

Given its limited resources, CFA does not actively engage in significant consumer advocacy but rather supports and amplifies the advocacy of its member organisations. CFA generally issues a policy agenda ahead of Federal Elections. In 2022, the CFA Policy Agenda called for the following strategic reforms: · Appointing a Minister for Consumer Affairs, re-establishing a national Ministerial Council for Consumer Affairs and giving consumers a voice in national policy and regulatory reform. · Enhance the Australian Consumer Law through an economy-side prohibition on unfair trading, a new general safety provision, and enacting penalties for consumer guarantees and unfair terms. · Modernising travel
consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
, including through a new Travel and Airline Ombudsman. · Addressing scam losses through payment system reforms and a whole-of-government response. · Regulating digital platforms to promote competitive outcomes and consumer protection. · Targeting inflationary pressures through improving and expanding unit pricing. · Renewing consumer credit laws to respond to market changes. · Helping consumers transition to respond to climate change and sustainability.


Annual consumer advocacy award

CFA provides an annual award for the most impactful consumer advocacy campaign on project. The award is provided as part of the annual National Consumer Congress, hosted by the
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...
. Recent award winners have been: · 2023 – Save Sorry Business Campaign and Stop the Debt Trap Alliance (joint winners) · 2022 – The Save Safe Lending Campaign · 2021 – Who is Making Australians Bankrupt? and Junk Insurance in Super (joint winners) · 2020 – Raphael Grzebieta from the Transport and Road Safety Research Centre for the Quad Bike Performance Project · 2019 – Financial Counselling Australia for the National Online Gambling Consumer Protection Framework · 2018 – Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Rights Legal Centre for the Watch Your Nuts! campaign


Other activities

CFA issues guidelines for the benefit of industry and regulatory schemes. For example, CFA has developed a set of good practice principles to offer guidance to industry bodies and external dispute resolution schemes about good practice in ensuring effective consumer input, including good practice in involving the consumer sector.


Governance and management

CFA is governed by a 9-member executive committee made up of nominees of CFA members. The committee meets every two months to advance the work of the association and is supported by a part-time communications and administration officer. The CFA Standards Project is managed by
Consumer Action Law Centre 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, providing free legal advice and pursuing litigation on behalf of vuln ...
, on behalf of CFA.


Members

CFA's membership includes


National organisations

*
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) is the peak advocacy group for Australian communications consumers. It receives Australian government funding to carry out its work, part of which ACCAN distributes to researchers. Gove ...
* Australian Motorcycle Council *
CHOICE A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate Motivation, motivators and Choice modelling, models. Freedom of choice is generally cherished, whereas a severely limited or arti ...
* COTA Australia * Energy Consumers Australia * Home Economics Institute of Australia
Owners Corporation Network
* Super Consumers Australia


Legal centres

* Caxton Legal Centre *
Consumer Action Law Centre 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, providing free legal advice and pursuing litigation on behalf of vuln ...
* Consumer Credit Legal Service WA * Darwin Community Legal Centre * Financial Rights Legal Centre * Hobart Community Legal Centre * Justice and Equity Centre * Westjustice


Financial counselling organisations

* Financial Counselling Australia * CARE Inc * Financial Counsellors' Association of NSW * Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network * Salvation Army MoneyCare


Research bodies

* Consumer Policy Research Centre


State-based bodies

* Combined Pensioners & Superannuants Association of NSW * Consumers Association of South Australia * Health Consumers' Council (WA) * Public Transport Users Association * Queensland Consumers Association


References

* ''A History of the Australian Consumer Movement'', Jane Brown, Consumers Federation of Australia, Canberra, 1996 * ''In the Consumer Interest - A selected history of consumer affairs in Australia 1945 - 2000'', Simon Smith, SOCAP, Melbourne 2000,


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Consumers' Federation Of Australia Consumer organisations in Australia Members of Consumers International Organizations established in 1974 1974 establishments in Australia