The Albanese Government is cracking down on business practices it says are hurting consumers.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a series of reforms this week to curb hidden fees and hard-to-cancel subscriptions across industries like gyms, online streaming, and event ticketing. 

“We're taking strong action to stop businesses from engaging in dodgy practices that rip consumers off,” Albanese said. 

These reforms will focus on eliminating subscription traps, where consumers struggle to cancel services, as well as drip pricing, which introduces hidden fees throughout a purchase. 

Dynamic pricing, used in industries such as concert ticketing, where prices fluctuate during transactions, will also face increased scrutiny.

The reforms will be finalised after a consultation period ending in mid-2025, in collaboration with state and territory governments. 

The current plan is for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to gain increased powers to penalise businesses that breach the new regulations under Australian Consumer Law.

The government is also targeting excessive card surcharges. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has launched a review into payment surcharges and merchant fees, which currently cost Australians up to $4 billion annually. The review aims to lower costs and could lead to a ban on excessive surcharges by 2026.

The government has allocated $2.1 million to the ACCC to investigate unfair surcharging practices during the RBA’s review.

The RBA has released an Issues Paper, inviting stakeholders to provide feedback.

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