A Political storm impacting retail
Following the recent eventful week in Canberra, the Liberal Party put an end to ongoing leadership speculation for the time being by selecting both a new Leader (and therefore Prime
25 October 2018
Category: Policy
Productivity Commission picks up ARA’s recommendations
The Productivity Commission (PC) released its Inquiry report into Competition in the Australian Financial System recently. Here are the key takeaways for retailers after the PC’s recommendations: Payments System: The
14 August 2018
Country of origin labelling update
When the mandatory date for the updated origin labelling requirements for food sold in Australia was announced on July 1 2016, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) fought to extend the
27 June 2018
Modern Slavery Legislation is coming
With a Modern Slavery Act soon to be introduced in Australia, the ARA are advocating for flexible reporting requirements. According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, 40.3 million people are
26 June 2018
Consumer guarantees
While most businesses are by now aware of the existence of the consumer guarantees contained in Australian Consumer law (the ACL), there are a number of peculiarities in this area
1 May 2018
Australia needs to work on consumer privacy
The Notifiable Data Breaches amendment has now become law, meaning Australian businesses must notify their consumers when a data hack, security threat or leak has occurred at their organisation. An
25 March 2018
National recycling label to combat growing waste issues
The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), alongside Planet Ark and PREP Design, have launched a nation-wide labelling scheme that will help consumers better understand how to recycle products effectively. Leading
27 February 2018
NSW gift card regulation producing more harm than good
Moves to regulate the sale of gift cards with a lack of evidence have been excessive in New South Wales (NSW), with the Government regulating a popular product for retailers
25 February 2018
Apple Pay to level the playing field for mobile wallets
In recent years, the retail sector has been impacted by considerable payments system change, much of which has been of great benefit to the sector. However, as always there are
23 February 2018
Concerns over consumer confidence
Retail sales have posted the biggest two-month decline in seven years as households reduced spending in many discretionary product areas. Not since late-2010 has there been a larger two-month slide.
15 February 2018
