Industrial Inspectors in the Private Sector Labour Relations Division assisted Western Australian workers recover a total of $458,290 in unpaid wages and entitlements in the last financial year. This amount included nearly $300,000 in unpaid long service leave and $137,000 in wages and other entitlements under WA awards, such as annual leave and tool allowances. The largest amount was $30,000 for...

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...

One of the commonly asked questions to Wageline is about the key differences between subcontractors and employees. If a person is engaged as a subcontractor but is legally considered an employee, the person could potentially be owed unpaid entitlements. The Employee or Subcontractor page has information on the differences between an employee and a subcontractor including an Employee or...

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...

Some quick checks and routine maintenance could have prevented the explosion of a storage water heater outside a home in Perth’s north, according to Building and Energy inspectors who attended the site. The incident is a timely reminder for owners of all storage water heaters – gas, electric and solar – to follow the recommended maintenance schedule, which usually involves simple checks every few...

A common misconception amongst employers and employees is that casual employees are not entitled to long service leave. The state long service leave obligations in the Long Service Leave Act apply to most WA businesses, including businesses covered by national modern awards. Under the Long Service Leave Act , full time, part time and casual employees are all entitled to long service leave. The...

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...

The average cost of unleaded petrol is set to increase by around 20 cents per litre (cpl) to 155.1 cpl tomorrow, so FuelWatch is encouraging Perth drivers to fill up today to save money. FuelWatch advises that on Tuesday 31 July 2018, most BP, Puma and Coles Express sites are increasing their ULP price to 159.9 cpl (an increase of between 22 cpl and 27 cpl). Most 7-Eleven, Caltex and Caltex...

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...

WorkSafe has issued a further warning to carefully check High Risk Work Licences after discovering another falsified licence. WorkSafe WA Commissioner Ian Munns said today WorkSafe had recently been alerted to a licence that had been altered to include classes of high risk work for which the licence holder had not been trained. In this latest instance, a licence was presented to WorkSafe in the...

Many of us know someone who has signed up to join a gym and then fails to use their membership - but just what are your consumer rights and does the Fitness Industry Code of Practice need to be updated? The fitness industry in Australia is growing and generated an estimated $229.2 million in profits in 2017-2018 alone, with about 450 gyms and fitness centres operating in WA. Attending a gym or...