11 February 2020

IBAC warns of information misuse risks in Victorian public sector

Victorian public sector agencies need to be more aware of corruption risks associated with the unauthorised release or access to information, according to a research report released today by the state's anti-corruption agency, IBAC.

IBAC's report, Unauthorised access and disclosure of information held by the Victorian public sector, analyses key risks associated with unauthorised access and disclosure of information by Victorian public sector employees and explains how the misuse of information or material by public officers may be corrupt conduct.

IBAC Commissioner, the Honourable Robert Redlich QC said helping public sector agencies to build their corruption resistance is an important focus of IBAC.

"IBAC's research reports help the public sector understand corruption risks and provide information on how to improve systems, processes and controls to prevent corruption."

"The public sector holds vast amounts of personal information, much of it sensitive, including citizen's financial data, health records and contact details along with political and economic information. It is vital that this information is properly secured and managed."

"The case studies contained in this report demonstrate how protected information is misused for corrupt purposes."

01 March 2020

IBAC Operation Sandon public hearings resume

The second round of the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission's (IBAC) public hearings into allegations of serious corrupt conduct in relation to planning and property development decisions at the Casey City Council resumes today.

These public hearings, which are part of IBAC's Operation Sandon investigation, will continue to hear evidence from witnesses involved in Casey City Council matters. IBAC will also more broadly examine the adequacy of Victoria's current systems and controls for safeguarding the integrity of the state's planning processes.

IBAC has also contacted a range of other Victorian councils who have planned or started audits of planning decisions, as a result of Operation Sandon, requesting advice on these audit processes and their findings.

"As part of these examinations, IBAC will consider strategic issues and systemic corruption vulnerabilities identified through the investigation. In the final week of public hearings, IBAC will take evidence from a number of expert witnesses with specialist knowledge in planning, campaign donations, lobbying, and integrity standards at local and state government levels," IBAC Commissioner, The Honourable Robert Redlich QC said.

"This phase of the examinations will also consider potential opportunities to strengthen related policies, systems and practices to prevent future corruption risk," Commissioner Redlich said.

For the first time, IBAC will publicly stream the hearings to make them more accessible to all Victorians, with streaming expected to commence during the first week of the hearings.

"Our public hearings are often at capacity and public interest in this matter is high. Video streaming will help interested community members, including local council employees, follow the proceedings," Commissioner Redlich said.

23 February 2020

False and misleading conduct key issue for small businesses

This issue continues to be the Australian Consumer Law issue most commonly affecting small businesses, and accounts for over a third of small business reports made to the ACCC, according to the latest Small Business in Focus Report, published today.

“We are concerned about the increase in reports from small businesses about false and misleading conduct, and remind businesses they must ensure their representations to both consumers and business counterparts are accurate and honest,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

“The ACCC will take action when we become aware of misleading and deceptive conduct, especially when that conduct has the potential to result in widespread harm.”

“A recent example was our investigation into concerns that Coles Group may not have fully passed on to Norco a milk price rise, as it claimed it would in its marketing materials. As a result of ACCC action, Coles committed to paying Norco dairy farmers around $5.25 million,” Mr Keogh said.

Franchisors not acting in good faith towards franchisees continues to be the most commonly reported conduct under the Franchising Code. Another common issue was inadequate disclosure, which accounted for 14 per cent of franchising reports, and was a key issue of the ACCC’s targeted compliance checks in the café, take away and restaurant sector in 2019.

“We are continuing our work to educate franchisees that franchising, like other businesses, involves risks and to remind franchisors of their obligations,” Mr Keogh said.

“We’ve developed resources including a guide to help franchisees understand their disclosure document, and a guide for franchisors about what a disclosure document should look like.”

The ACCC frequently hears concerns being expressed by small businesses that are subject to onerous contract agreements with large businesses. We are continuing to take enforcement action on these issues, and recently, Uber Eats committed to changing its contracts with restaurants following an investigation by the ACCC which raised concerns that certain contract terms may be unfair.

The ACCC continues to advocate for changes to business-to-business unfair contract term laws including the inclusion of penalties for non-compliance.

“This work highlights the importance of our enforcement and compliance activities to benefit small businesses more broadly,” Mr Keogh said.

The ACCC will also be working closely with farmers and processors to educate them about their rights and obligations under the new Dairy Code of Conduct, which came into effect in January this year.

“Our dairy inquiry concluded that a mandatory code was the best way to address systemic industry problems such as imbalanced bargaining power between processors and farmers, so we are pleased to see that this has become reality,” Mr Keogh said.

The Small Business in Focus report is published twice yearly and provides a summary of the ACCC’s work and activities in the small business, franchising, and agriculture sectors.

The ACCC has also published a range of resources to support small businesses, which are available on our website.

27 February 2020

Issues in agricultural machinery markets to be examined

Concerns about manufacturer warranties and the servicing and repair of agricultural machinery are the focus of an ACCC discussion paper released today, along with an online survey seeking farmers’ feedback about their experiences.

Agricultural machinery: After-sales markets identifies a number of initial concerns relating to competition and fair trading issues, which the ACCC is seeking more information about.

“Agricultural machinery costs a lot to purchase and maintain. We are concerned by a number of issues surrounding the sale and servicing of agricultural machinery and want to better understand the extent of these,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

“A number of barriers, including warranty clauses, may be preventing farmers from using an independent business to repair or service their equipment. We hear that this can result in delays at critical times.”

The Australian Consumer Law provides certain rights when a consumer good breaks or fails to perform as expected.

However, these protections generally don’t apply to agricultural machinery and a purchaser’s recourse for faults is usually limited to the manufacturer’s warranty or paying for the repairs themselves.

“Manufacturers have significant discretion as to what warranty protections are offered and how they apply, and we’re concerned that farmers may not be aware of these limitations,” Mr Keogh said.

Additionally, most modern agricultural machinery has extensive data collection capabilities, but manufacturer policies on data ownership and management may raise privacy and competition issues.

“Production data becomes more valuable to a farmer the more they accumulate it, so the lack of any clear rights to this data may create a barrier to switching between brands of machinery,” Mr Keogh said.

“We want to hear about farmers’ experiences when purchasing and obtaining repairs to agricultural machinery, and encourage them to contribute to our survey,” Mr Keogh said.

The survey is open until 5 April 2020. Interested parties can also make submissions via the ACCC consultation hub until 5 April 2020.

The ACCC will analyse information collected from submissions and the survey and will use this to determine its next steps.

09 March 2020

Gen Z the fastest growing victims of scams

Australians under 25 lost over $5 million to scams in 2019 and reports made from this age group are increasing faster than older generations.

In 2019, around 12,000 (7.15 per cent) reports made to Scamwatch were from people under the age of 25, an increase of 11 per cent compared to 2018 figures. Reports from this age group increased by 10 percentage points more than any other age group.

“Scammers don’t discriminate based on age and the wide range of scams reported by this age group is concerning,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.

“Young people may think they are tech savvy, but scammers are adapting and we expect to see more scams on newer platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok.”

Facebook and Instagram were the most common platforms for reports and losses by those under 25, with typical scams on these platforms involving fake online stores or the sale of fake tickets to events.

Online shopping scams were the most common scams, making up more than 14 per cent of reports and almost 12 per cent of losses among people under 25.

“Almost half of the losses to people under 25 occurred through bank transfer but you should also be wary of sellers asking for payment through unusual payment methods such as gift cards or bitcoin,” Ms Rickard said.

“Always try to purchase tickets from authorised sellers and be aware that many links sourced through social media will not be legitimate.”

Additionally, scammers are using social media platforms and email as forums for sextortion scams, where they threaten to share intimate images or footage of you online, unless you give in to their demands.

“In many cases if you receive a sextortion threat from a stranger claiming they have compromising images or video footage of you, these images don’t actually exist, so delete the message. If you are concerned, you can contact the e-Safety Commissioner,” Ms Rickard said.

Scammers can also target children who play online video games, such as Fortnite, by offering unlocked achievements or special items in exchange for money or gift card codes without ever transferring the item.

“By targeting children, scammers could obtain personal and banking information from the individual’s parents,” Ms Rickard said.

“We encourage parents and guardians to ensure children do not share personal or banking details online, and if they think a scammer has gained access to their personal information contact their financial institution as soon as possible.”

“You should also contact the platform on which you were scammed and inform them of the circumstances surrounding the scam,” Ms Rickard said.

People can also report a scam to the ACCC through Scamwatch, which offers further information on where to get help, and how to protect yourself from scams.

10 March 2020

BAR Group pays penalty for alleged misleading advertising

B.A.R Group Pty Ltd (BAR Group) has paid a penalty of $12,600 after the ACCC issued an infringement notice for allegedly misleading consumers about the running power of a portable generator.

In September 2019, BAR Group advertised on its website that its 123 G8100-HELT portable generator was capable of achieving a running power of 6 kW.

The ACCC alleges that BAR Group’s representation was false or misleading, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

“We were concerned that the generator was only capable of achieving a running power of 6 kW for a short time and not continuously for several hours,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.

“Businesses must ensure that they do not overstate the performance features of goods or services that they are selling.”