On the 5 and 6 December, Deakin Law School hosted the 2024 Australasian Consumer Law Roundtable. This event has been running since 2006, providing an opportunity for consumer law scholars in Australia and New Zealand to present recent research and works in progress, discuss consumer law reform proposals and reflect on the capacity of consumer law to respond to both continuing and emerging issues, including issues of vulnerability, sustainability, and technology. 

The early days of the event involved a small group of academics, literally sitting around a roundtable, but in 2024 there were 50 participants, from PhD students to full professors, highlighting the depth and breadth of scholarship in our field. 

This year, the event also incorporated a regional event for the International Association of Consumer Law (Home – International Association of Consumer Law), with the program enhanced by presenters and participants from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Ireland and England.  

The discussion over the two days covered a wide range of consumer law issues, with presenters exploring a range of topics, including: 

  • The definition of ‘consumer’ in the Australian Consumer Law and Consumer Data Right; 
  • Regulating financial innovation, such as digital assets, and Buy Now Pay Later products; 
  • Understanding dispute resolution approaches and outcomes within banks, tribunals, and private external dispute resolution bodies; 
  • Scams and allocating responsibility for deep fakes; 
  • Product liability and product safety approaches in Australia and other jurisdictions, including in relation to autonomous vehicles; 
  • The right to repair, and transparency of information on product longevity and duration of software updates for our connected devices. 

And many more.  

We were also privileged to be joined by both of our national consumer protection regulators. On the first day, Catriona Lowe, Deputy Chair at the ACCC reflected on the 50-year anniversary of the Trade Practices Act (now renamed the Competition and Consumer Act), and some of the enduring and emerging challenges for consumer law and regulation. On the second day, Alan Kirkland, ASIC Commissioner, argued that the proposed unfair trading practices for the Australian Consumer Law should also apply to financial services (Fair’s fair: The case for prohibiting unfair trading practices in financial services | ASIC).  

A recent addition to the Consumer Law Roundtable has been the introduction of presentation awards to recognise the outstanding work of our colleagues. There were very many excellent presentations over the two days, making the decision very difficult, but after the close of the formal proceedings on day two, we announced the following awards: 

  • Most Outstanding Presentation Award (PHD Candidate)Christabel Pahl (The University of Auckland) for her presentation ‘Shrinkflation: A Growing Problem for Consumers’ 
  • Most Outstanding Presentation Award (Early Career Academic)Dr Detania Sukarja (University Sumatera Utara) for her presentation ‘The Emergence of Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) in the Retail Market: Lessons on Legal Implications for Indonesia and Malaysia’ (paper co-authored with Doli M.J. Dalimunthe (University Sumatera Utara) and Professor Mushera B.A. Khan (International Islamic University Malaysia)) 
  • Distinguished Presentation Award Professor Leanne Wiseman (Griffith University) and Erin Turner (Consumer Policy Research Centre) for their presentation ‘Consumers v Product Obsolescence: Why We Need to Stop Australian Consumers Being Bricked and Abandoned’ 

Congratulations to you all! 

Sincere thanks are due to Zehra Kavame Eroglu, Isa Alade, and the team from Deakin Law School and the Centre for Law as Protection for hosting a superb event at a wonderful venue.  

The venue for the 2025 Roundtable has not yet been decided, but if you would like to be advised of details when they are available, please contact Nicola Howell (nicola.howell@qut.edu.au) to be added to the mailing list. 

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