Trade Practices: Australian Consumer Law Amendment Assented to

The Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Act 2010 (44/2010) was assented to 14 April 2010  and is now available to subscribers to the TimeBase Trade Practices and GST Services.

The press release for the Bill stated

"One national consumer law for Australia"

and went on to state

"Thirteen different consumer protection laws will become one under a Bill introduced into the Australian Parliament today. The Trade Practices Amendment (Australian Consumer Law) Bill 2009 will introduce a single national consumer law and start the process of replacing consumer laws in place across Australia and the consumer protection provisions of the Commonwealth Trade Practices Act 1974. Reforming consumer protection laws would, as estimated by the Productivity Commission,save Australians up to $4.5 billion a year. These reforms to a century-old problem constitute an historic milestone through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to move Australia towards a seamless national economy."

What are your views on these developments. Will the new laws produce the savings claimed by the government?