Consumer Law in Australia.

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A consumer is someone who purchases or uses goods or services. Overtime there has been a need for greater consumer protection due to various methods of which manufactures/suppliers can use to exploit the vulnerability of consumers. These methods include: undue influences, unconscionable conduct, misleading and deceptive behaviour, which are evident in various contemporary issues, such as credit and marketing innovations. As a result of increasing consumer awareness due to various acts, cases, media reports, the concept of justice has been reformed to achieve greater consumer redress.

Credit is the purchase of good and services in advance of future payments such as the use of credit cards and loans. Our society is becoming more ‘cashless’, with credit providers making loans more accessible than ever before. The growing risk of exploitation by unscrupulous lenders is inevitable as the number of purchases via credit is becoming a more popular means of purchasing goods and services.

Most of the responses to issues involving the use of credit are legal responses as most aspects of credit transactions are regulated by the consumer credit code. Credit issues that affect consumers include, unfair contract terms. This is where a contract is unfair as a result of a party’s unconscionable conduct. Unconscionable conduct is one party’s exploitation of the vulnerability of another party to a contract. The victim may have been impaired by some external fact or he or she may have been deceived or threatened by the stronger party. This is apparent in the case of Blomley v Ryan (1956) where an elderly, uneducated man suffering from poor health entered into a contract to sell his property. He then soon discovered that he had been persuaded to sell at a greatly reduced price. He took the matter to the High Court of Australia that decided that where a party has taken advantage of the condition of another to secure an unfair contract the contract cannot be enforced.

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It is then correct to assert that the law is highly effective in achieving justice for consumers in today’s society to a certain extent. This is due to the fact that the law is constantly being modified to protect consumers entering into credit agreements and in turn not all consumers are fully protected or are aware of the legal system that is available to them. For this reason, credit providers are now required to inform consumers of their rights and obligations in any credit arrangement, and to truthfully disclose all relevant information about the credit arrangement in a written ...

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