Consumer Protection

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard

Are your airbags safe? Car owners across Western Australia are reminded to check whether they have faulty Takata airbags as the Department of Transport exercises its powers to cancel vehicle licences if owners do not respond to notices to replace deadly Alpha airbags.

Quarterly recall figures show that around 2.8 million faulty Takata airbags have been replaced across Australia, including more than 250,000 in WA, but thousands of affected vehicles remain on WA roads.

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard

Consumer Protection WA and our counterpart agencies across Australia are reminding people with disability of their consumer rights as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) continues to roll out.

The NDIS brings extensive change for people with disability and for businesses or providers in the scheme.

Since the NDIS began its gradual roll out in July 2016, there are now more than 180,000 participants in the scheme and more than 16,700 registered service providers.

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection, David Hillyard

Families, friends and the rural communities in which they live are mourning the deaths of two boys aged under ten who lost their lives recently in separate quad bike accidents in WA and Tasmania. The tragic accidents occurred on farms and involved rollovers, a common set of circumstances when we look at the statistics.

The McGowan Government's new tenancy laws to better protect tenants experiencing family and domestic violence have passed through State Parliament.

The passage of the Residential Tenancies Legislation Amendment (Family Violence) Bill will provide more options and greater support for those experiencing family and domestic violence.

The amendments are aimed at giving the victim better choices, including whether to stay in the tenancy or move to safer accommodation, or remove tenancy-related concerns, which are barriers to leaving a violent relationship.

Whether it’s a dog, cat, bird or fish, buying a pet is generally an exciting purchase, but if you’re buying a pet online, beware of pet sale scams.

Scammers have been using animals to get their paws on pet-buyers’ money for years. We’ve received reports of monetary loss from many heartbroken victims of online pet sale scams who paid for animals that never arrived.

Scam advertisements for pets are often found in:

Planning a trip and looking for someone to take care of the pets and water the plants? If you’re thinking about engaging a house or pet sitting agency, it’s important to understand the how-tos of hiring a sitter. 

The risks of hiring a dodgy house sitter were all too real for a Perth couple who returned from a five-week holiday to find the woman hired to stay with their dog had robbed them of jewellery and other belongings worth thousands of dollars and that their losses were not covered by insurance because the sitter was in the home with their consent.

Recent hikes in fuel prices have left many consumers searching for the best deal and trying to understand the reasons behind fluctuating prices.

The price of fuel, like other retail products, is market driven and the government does not set the price.

Consumer Protection operates the FuelWatch website which offers transparency in terms of what the prices at the pumps will do in the next 24 hours, so you can use this information to plan your fuel purchases and save cash.

The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) is seeking passionate people who thrive in leadership roles and will take a collaborative approach to problem solving.

As a family-friendly employer, DMIRS offers a workplace that supports diversity and work-life balance. DMIRS has a priority to improve gender diversity within its leadership group, and therefore is particularly encouraging outstanding female leaders to register.

The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) is conducting a stakeholder satisfaction survey to invite feedback on our services and our role as a regulator. The results will help DMIRS focus on business areas and services that need performance improvements.

If you subscribe to a DMIRS email newsletter or subscriber news service, you may be contacted by email and invited to take part in our 2019 Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey.

With Acting Consumer Protection Commissioner Gary Newcombe

Complaining via social media – think before you tweet

In the past consumers who wanted others to know about their bad experience with a business would usually rely on word of mouth or perhaps a strongly worded letter to a newspaper editor but nowadays it’s commonplace for people to speak out on social media.