Mistakes made on a property sale contract have resulted in a York real estate agency and its operator being reprimanded and fined a total of $6,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). Avon Districts Professionals Pty Ltd , trading as Westerntown & Country.com.au , and supervising agent Nicola Di Giulio were each fined $3,000 and both were ordered to pay $700 in costs for breaching the...

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard Seeing the recent bushfires is horrifying for most of us and we just want to help somehow. But unfortunately scammers see it as an opportunity to impersonate charities, or create fake charities. This can happen online, via social media or website pop-ups, or in person, such as at your front door or on the street. It’s doubly cruel because...

Summer, school holidays and Christmas should be times of fun and relaxation and Consumer Protection wants to make sure that they are also safe times for everyone. In the 12 months from July 2018 to June 2019, there were 276 drowning deaths in Australia with 31 of them occurring in swimming pools*. Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard is concerned that these figures are higher than...

A former building practitioner who provided false or misleading information in his registration application has been fined $2,500 by the Building Services Board and has voluntarily cancelled his registration. David James Shaw (BP102430, cancelled) was granted building practitioner registration in March 2017 after submitting an application that included information to support the criteria of...

WA’s building regulator is urging owner-builders to ensure they fully understand their obligations after a Perth man was fined $2,400 for selling his house without the necessary home indemnity insurance. At Joondalup Magistrates Court on 1 November 2019, Jonathon Robert Reardon pleaded guilty to an offence under WA’s home building contract laws following a prosecution by Building and Energy. The...

A real estate agent has been fined $500 and ordered to pay costs of $553.90 by the Mandurah Magistrates Court for failing to cooperate with requests from the auditor during the termination audit of his previous business. Gregory James O’Farrell , former Director of O’Farrell Property Group Pty Ltd of Mandurah, did not renew the company’s triennial certificate and the business ceased to operate in...

With Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard I remember the first time we held the Consumer Protection Awards in 2004 and I’m proud that the annual event has become firmly fixed in the Western Australian calendar as an opportunity to acknowledge community contributions to consumer protection. Many individuals, organisations, businesses and media professionals are involved in helping...

Home and business buyers as well as real estate and settlement agents in WA are urged to be on high alert after two payments totalling $70,000 meant for a Perth settlement agent were stolen by scammers. The scammers had cloned the settlement agent’s Yahoo email address, changing just one character, and sent a payment request for $48,000 to the buyer of a business. The email contained details of a...

WorkSafe is investigating the work-related death of a 63-year-old truck driver at a workplace in Wootatting (near York) yesterday. The man was believed to have been performing repair or maintenance work on a truck in a workshop when he was caught between the wheel arch and the tyre. Inspectors travelled to the site last night and will continue to closely examine the circumstances of the incident...

A proactive inspection program looking at safety issues in WA’s child care centres has revealed a widespread lack of risk assessment and training in hazardous substances. The program, which included both government and private childcare centres in metropolitan and regional areas of the State, was undertaken because child care was a relatively new work area and had not been closely examined for...

Consumers facing financial difficulties are urged to exercise caution when approached by budget and debt management companies that charge fees for their services. Complaints have been received by Consumer Protection from consumers who claim that they are charged fees for services, which were not delivered and some have signed contracts without realising that this would lead to a caveat being put...

WorkSafe is conducting a proactive inspection program to look at safety issues relating to tower cranes in service at WA construction sites. The program will continue until the end of the 2019/20 financial year, and will include tower cranes on construction sites in both metropolitan and regional areas of the State. WorkSafe Director Sally North said today an inspection program was being...