National Strategy

Introduction

The Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs endorsed the development of a National Consumer Strategy. The Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs (“SCOCA”) working party, which represents all Commonwealth, State and Territory Government consumer agencies, has prepared this action plan.

The objectives are to:

• improve Indigenous consumers’ knowledge of their rights and obligations under consumer protection laws and achieve greater Indigenous access to consumer protection programs;
• improve the behaviour of traders, through education and compliance activity, to reduce detriment experienced by Indigenous consumers; and
• promote effective engagement and partnership between consumer protection agencies, Indigenous organisations, business and other government agencies to improve consumer outcomes for Indigenous people.

SCOCA participated in and convened a number of workshops in 2002-2003 in response to concerns about the disadvantages experienced by Indigenous consumers. Subsequently the concept of a national action plan for Indigenous consumers was developed.

A consultation document on the plan was released in 2004 and consultations were conducted around Australia. Feedback on the consultation document has been incorporated into the final action plan.

The plan identifies actions under eight key priority areas.

• Employment of Indigenous staff in consumer agencies
• Advocacy of Indigenous consumers’ interests
• Housing
• Financial management and banking
• Motor vehicles and boats
• Trading practices
• Arts industry
• Managing Indigenous community organisations.
  

However, both the priority areas and actions identified in each of these areas are underpinned by recognition of the need for change in the way consumer agencies go about their business with Indigenous consumers. Consumer agencies need to consider changes to the way they work with Indigenous people to ensure that services they provide are equitable and effective for Indigenous consumers. In addition, consumer agencies need to consider changes to the rules that regulate traders and service providers to ensure that these are fair and responsive to the needs of Indigenous people.

The action plan addresses the need for cultural and operational changes within consumer agencies. For example, using call centres as the primary means of delivering services should be reconsidered because call centres are unlikely to meet the needs of many Indigenous people. Other initiatives include employment of Indigenous people in key positions in consumer agencies, the development of partnerships with Indigenous organisations and supporting the effective management of Indigenous organisations.

Consumer agencies face challenges in investigating and enforcing laws in relation to problems experienced by Indigenous consumers. The plan identifies the development of a best practice enforcement guide as one way of dealing with these challenges. The guide will draw on the experiences of agencies that have successfully enforced laws to protect Indigenous consumers.

Progress against the actions identified in the plan will be monitored, evaluated and reported on an annual basis. Each consumer agency represented at SCOCA will report their progress on the actions and how the action plan has been promoted. SCOCA has also established a reference group, which includes non government Indigenous representatives, to monitor implementation.

Finally, it is acknowledged many Australian consumer agencies have already implemented a range of initiatives to address Indigenous consumer issues.

This action plan provides a framework for this work to continue and for agencies to share information and education materials, to collaborate in the enforcement of consumer rights and to coordinate research and policy development.

Statement of Commitment

As the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs, we have accepted responsibility for the development and implementation of the National Indigenous Consumer Strategy. This action plan demonstrates our shared responsibility for ensuring that Australia's performance in Indigenous consumer affairs is continually improved.

The action plan will focus our efforts in working together to improve outcomes for Indigenous consumers.

Commonwealth, State and Territory consumer agencies are committed to:

• The promotion of basic consumer rights recognised by the United Nations for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia;
• Improving market outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers; and
• Ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers have equal access to the services each agency provides.
  

We are committed to working cooperatively on the issues and actions identified in the plan. We are also committed to regularly reviewing our achievements against the actions and will further develop the plan in light of these achievements. We recognise that there are many other stakeholders who make significant contributions to improving Australia's performance regarding Indigenous consumer affairs. We invite all stakeholders to adopt and contribute to the action plan.