CONSUMER ISSUES

  Picture: Dean Lewins/AAP Australia’s vaccine rollout is moving far more slowly than the government had hoped, and there is evidence of vaccine hesitancy in a significant part of the population. Some governments and media outlets are already considering whether mandates will be needed...

 Picture: MFB Australia has more than 3,400 buildings with flammable cladding. In Victoria alone, at least 71 of these buildings have been classified as “extreme risk” and another 368 as “high risk”. Despite the tragic evidence of the risks of cladding fires, rectification work had...

 Darren Fisher, Author provided Barriers to housing for people with pets around Australia are the focus of newly released national research by an interdisciplinary team. Why? Because laws are changing nationally but are highly inconsistent. A systematic national...

 Picture: Michael Reynolds / AAP Facebook on Thursday made good on its threat to block Australians from accessing or posting news content. The ban includes blocking links to Australian and overseas news publishers. Facebook said the ban...

 Image: Shuttlestock Each year, thousands of men and boys labour under extremely exploitative conditions on commercial fishing vessels owned by Taiwanese, Chinese and South Korean companies. The Taiwanese fleet, which operates in all reaches of the...

Shuttlestock Renters will no longer have to contend with poorly insulated homes and Victoria will move closer towards 7-star home efficiency standards under a A$797 million plan announced this week. It’s purportedly the biggest energy efficiency...

Image: Shuttlestock Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter has called for submissions to the long-awaited review of the federal Privacy Act 1988. This is the first wide-ranging review of privacy laws since the Australian Law Reform Commission produced a landmark...

Image: Jens Meyer/AP The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google for unlawful monopolisation. The department says Google’s conduct harms competition and consumers, and reduces the ability of new innovative companies...

Image: Shuttlestock Fraudsters are ruthless and will use any means necessary to gain financial advantage. Earlier this year, as Australians were battling the devastating bushfires, fraudsters were tailoring their approaches to exploit the good intentions of citizens wanting...

Picture: FRANCK ROBICHON/EPA When booking a luxury cruise, you generally expect relaxation and enjoyment, not forced quarantine and distress. Unfortunately, for the thousands of vacationers trapped on cruise ships in Asia the past month, what...