Albanese government promises to ban ‘dodgy’ trading practices

Hard on the heels of pledging a crackdown on excessive surcharges, the Albanese government has promised legislation to ban unfair trading practices.

The government said this would include specific prohibitions on various “dodgy” practices.

“From concert tickets to hotel rooms to gym memberships, Australians are fed up with businesses using tricky tactics that make it difficult to end subscriptions or add hidden fees to purchases,” the prime minister, treasurer and assistant treasurer said in a statement.

“These practices can distort purchasing decisions, or result in additional costs, putting more pressure on the cost of living.”

They said the government would deal with

• “subscription traps” that make it difficult to cancel a subscription
• “drip pricing” characterised by hidden fees or fees added during the purchase
• deceptive and manipulative online practices. These aim to confuse consumers, such as for example by creating a false sense of urgency, warning there is only a limited time to purchase
• dynamic pricing, where a price changes during the transaction
• requiring a consumer to set up an account and provide unnecessary information for an online purchase
• a business making it difficult for a consumer to contact it when they have a problem with the product.