“Make Unfair Illegal” a Consumer Sector Submission
The “Make Unfair Illegal” submission was led by the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) and jointly signed by 20 consumer organisations, including CHOICE, Consumer Action Law Centre, Financial Counselling Australia, Financial Rights Legal Centre, and several Indigenous and community advocacy groups, including Way Forward.
Read the “Make Unfair Illegal” submission.
The submission was submitted on 27 May 2026 to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee’s inquiry into the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026.
The submission argues Australia has lagged behind comparable nations – the UK, US, and EU have had unfair trading protections for decades, and that existing laws fail to capture the full range of manipulative, exploitative, and deceptive business practices harming Australians.
The submission includes several real-world examples illustrating the harm caused by small and large businesses alike:
- Zhang – a car accident victim whose vehicle was held hostage by a repairer demanding ~$11,000, despite the original agreement being that costs would be recovered from an insurer.
- Muna – a migrant single parent on Centrelink who was pressured into a $43,500 car hire-purchase agreement she couldn’t afford, ultimately losing the car and ~$30,000 in payments.
- Sarah – a First Nations mother pressured into a $12,000 business coaching contract through high-pressure tactics and deceptive direct debit arrangements, now facing bankruptcy.
- A domestic violence survivor – targeted through lead generation, pressured into buying an unaffordable vacuum cleaner on credit, and left homeless.
The submission urges the Senate to pass the Bill promptly, with two key amendments:
- Include lead generation explicitly in Section 28B as an example of unfair conduct.
- Extend the prohibition to financial services by mirroring provisions in the ASIC Act.
It also calls for no exemptions based on business size, emphasising that some of the most harmful conduct comes from smaller operators who operate below the regulatory radar.
