I am very excited to rise to speak on the Consumer Legislation Amendment Bill 2019, and I do so having the experience of working in consumer law at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. I know that consumer law plays a very vital role in stopping ordinary Australians from being exploited or extorted by consumer contracts and the dodgy fine print in small below.

One of the main roles of Consumer Affairs Victoria is to ensure that consumers are protected from unfair practices. We would like to think that people involved in our building industry always do the right thing, and in a lot of situations they do. But in the situations where they do not, consumers need to have adequate protections. As our economy evolves, our consumer protections must be updated, and that is exactly what this bill does. It amends several existing acts covered by the consumer affairs portfolio so that they operate efficiently, remain clear in their requirements and have the latest up-to-date references. As the member for a community that is in the middle of what can only be considered a building boom and sitting in one of the largest growth corridors in this country, consumer protections for my families building their dream homes have never been more important.

Firstly, this bill facilitates greater consumer protection from unfair contract terms. The Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 will be amended to empower the director of Consumer Affairs Victoria to go ahead and use their powers to determine whether to apply to the courts for a declaration of an unfair contract term. These changes will provide certainty for consumers who wish to seek the advice of Consumer Affairs Victoria if they feel that they are being unfairly treated under a consumer contract. Their claims can be investigated, and the director can request the traders produce more information and documents for examination and, if necessary, receive a judicial declaration from the courts to resolve these disputes.

Another set of key amendments in this bill relates to the regulation of domestic building contracts so that disputes are resolved fairly, efficiently and effectively by Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria. Since the DBDRV began operating in April 2017, they have received, quite shockingly, more than 11 500 dispute resolution applications and have been able to close almost 9000 cases. The first of these amendments allows conciliation officers of the DBDRV to assess whether or not to refer a notice of acceptance or rejection to the chief dispute officer. The DBDRV can request more information from a referring party at any time during the dispute conciliation process instead of the current arrangements that limit it to the assessment stage.

Changes are also going to enable the DBDRV to issue dispute resolution orders in situations where both parties, importantly, consent to one being made. They will also be able to issue dispute resolution orders to require builders to pay more money to building owners when appropriate or allow the builder to terminate a domestic building contract when there is no defective or incomplete work found on the part of the builder. These changes are designed to increase the flexibility of the DBDRV to resolve disputes and give the chief dispute resolution officer the resources necessary to just do their job so that when a dispute comes before them they are able to resolve it in an effective and efficient manner.

This bill is going to make changes to the operations of charities and not-for-profit organisations by again streamlining processes for these organisations to register in Victoria. As a result, a charitable or not-for-profit organisation wishing to operate in Victoria is not going to have to register with Consumer Affairs Victoria if it is already registered under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012. This sounds like a lot, but in essence it is going to benefit up to 60 per cent of charities who are currently registered under the Fundraising Act 1998.

In addition this bill is also going to introduce our reforms to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 regarding the rights of tenants to have pets, and I know there have been a lot of members of this house today that have talked passionately about being a pet owner. As originally introduced in the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2018, our government is intent on protecting the rights of all tenants to have pets by legislating that landlords can only reject an application by a tenant to have pets on reasonable grounds approved by VCAT. Now, as someone who has dogs and has rented for years in Melbourne’s west, I am very pleased to see that our government is bringing forward these provisions to operate earlier than the intended commencement date of 2020. We know that for many people across Victoria our pets are not just animals; they are our companions, they are our catharsis and they are our best friends. I say this quite passionately because quite recently I lost one of my dogs, Ulysses, who had been my family’s companion for 15 wonderful years.

This bill also seeks to amend the Residential Tenancies Act so that our Labor government can facilitate the rollout of the Solar Homes package. I make no secret here in Parliament about my enthusiasm for this program and the life-changing implications it has for households across Victoria, including those in my own electorate of Tarneit. These amendments are going to greatly benefit those renting who wish to take advantage of the package. With this amendment the landlord and the tenant can enter an agreement where the tenant can contribute up to 50 per cent of the amount of the loan from the government for the installation of solar panels, which the landlord will then be required to pay. The Solar Homes package is also expected to benefit landlords as well because not only will having solar panels installed lower the cost of electricity bills for renters but it is also likely to increase property values for landowners. So I think it is fair to say that whether you are a property owner or a renter, this package will leave you better off.

This bill also makes a number of changes to the Sex Work Act 1994 in relation to information regarding the register of exempt sex workers. Very recently the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that certain information on this register could be disclosed under a freedom of information request. The data disclosed related to the numbers of workers on the register identified by local government area and postcode. This is important because whilst this does not actually identify the names and the addresses of sex workers, the information that was released could actually be utilised with data-matching systems like the electoral roll and census data to uncover names and addresses. So after consulting with the Business Licensing Authority, who are responsible for maintaining the register, and Victoria Police, this bill will seek to protect the identities of our sex workers. As a result of these changes, the register of exempt sex work service providers will be protected from freedom of information requests and only be made available in certain circumstances, as per section 24 of the act. This means that only the director of Consumer Affairs Victoria, members or staff of the Business Licensing Authority, Victoria Police and authorised local government officials under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 will actually be authorised to inspect the register. What this means is that exempt sex workers, such as those operating their own escort services or sole operators, can no longer be subject to freedom of information requests by people who may actually intend to name them and, shamefully, shame them. It is important to recognise that these workers are entitled to dignity, they are entitled to respect and they should not be vilified and humiliated for the work that they do by opinionated individuals.

This bill makes a number of small but very significant reforms to a variety of consumer laws, and it is actually a testament to this government’s strong record on effective consumer protections. I commend this bill to this house.