The Consumer Protection Kalgoorlie office is moving from its current location on Brookman Street to the department’s West Kalgoorlie office on the corners of Hunter and Broadwood Streets. The Brookman Street office will close on Friday 31 August at 12.30pm and will reopen in the West Kalgoorlie office on Monday 3 September 2018 at 8.30am. There will be no change to the services provided by the...

A Huntingdale man has been fined $9,500 by the Joondalup Magistrates Court for selling vehicles from his home without a licence. Grant William James Hislop failed to appear in court on 3 August 2018, and the matter proceeded in his absence. Mr Hislop was convicted of unlicensed motor vehicle dealing in relation to 18 cars that were bought, and then 12 sold, during a 12 month period. Costs of $205...

Making payments online is now a routine part of life for many consumers but we all need to stay vigilant both at home and in the workplace where interception scams continue to be an issue. Many of us are already aware that we should take precautions when paying online for goods but consumers may not realise that payment scams can target anyone exchanging money, including business and property...

WA consumers have recouped a total of $3.85 million in the 2017/18 financial year as a result of Consumer Protection’s dispute resolution efforts. The bulk of the consumer redress achieved was for motor vehicle buyers who had just over $2 million returned to them either by manufacturers or dealers, mostly in the form of refunds for faulty vehicles or upgrades to a newer model of car, truck, four-...

A Queens Park man has been fined $3,000 by the Perth Magistrates Court for selling vehicles from his home without a licence. Ali Hadi pleaded guilty on 27 July 2018 of breaching the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act and was also ordered to pay costs of $546. Between June 2016 and April 2018, Mr Hadi bought 66 motor vehicles and sold 63 vehicles, mostly via Gumtree. Commissioner for Consumer Protection...

Imported cosmetic eyeliners that contain 84 percent lead are being taken off store shelves throughout Australia with WA shoppers warned to be on the look-out. Consumer Protection said testing by NSW Fair Trading found that Hashmi Surmi Special and Hashmi Kohl Aswad eyeliners had dangerous levels of lead as well as containing other hazardous metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium and mercury. It...

The average cost of unleaded petrol is set to increase by around 19 cents per litre (cpl) to 155.5 cpl tomorrow, so FuelWatch is encouraging Perth drivers to fill up today to save money. FuelWatch advises that on Tuesday 24 July 2018, most Caltex, Puma, BP and Coles Express sites are increasing their ULP price to 159.9 cpl (an increase of between 21 cpl and 28 cpl). Most 7-Eleven and Caltex...

Door to door salespeople who ignore ‘Do Not Knock’ stickers on homes may face prosecution, Consumer Protection has warned. The agency has received several reports from Perth consumers claiming that they were visited by door to door traders despite having a ‘Do Not Knock’ sticker displayed. The Federal Court has previously ruled that the sticker conveyed a clear and unambiguous request for a...

WA households have begun receiving scam mail in the form of glossy travel brochures that contain two fake scratchies, with one showing a $US200,000 win. It’s a long-running scam from Malaysia that has been the subject of warnings from Consumer Protection for many years but, each time, the scammers change the name of the promotion and the business behind it. The latest reincarnations go under the...

The average cost of unleaded petrol is set to increase by around 19 cents per litre (cpl) to 156.2 cpl tomorrow, so FuelWatch is encouraging Perth drivers to fill up today to save money. FuelWatch advises that on Tuesday 17 July 2018, most 7-Eleven, BP, Caltex, Caltex Woolworths, Puma and Coles Express sites are increasing their ULP price to 159.9 cpl (an increase of between 21 cpl and 24 cpl)...

Consumer Protection has appointed a new senior regional officer to its Kalgoorlie office to serve residents in the Goldfields, Esperance and Wheatbelt areas of WA. Mark Ing has worked for the Department for eight years, starting as a client services officer with WorkSafe before taking up a role as an Occupational Safety and Health Coordinator. More recently, Mark has worked in Consumer Protection...

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard It is now easier for consumers to know where their food comes from with the introduction of mandatory Country of Origin food labelling which became effective as of 1 July 2018. All businesses, including manufacturers, processors and importers that offer food for retail sale in Australia, must comply with the Country of Origin Food Labelling...