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...

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...

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...

Wageline continues to be a valuable service for employers and employees in Western Australia. In the last financial year, Wageline had 1.5 million website visits, handled 16,000 calls and responded to nearly 1000 email enquiries from clients. Wageline has both state and national system clients, and helps national system employers and employees understand long service leave entitlements and 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...

Consumer Protection is warning members of the Chinese community not to respond to random calls claiming to be from authorities checking on a visa application, a package with fraudulent documents or a money laundering investigation. WA ScamNet has recently received several reports about the calls with three reports of financial losses. One victim lost $24,000 and another sent $43,000 to the...

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...

Many WA awards require employers to pay an employee working in certain regional towns a location allowance to compensate for the additional cost of living, climatic discomfort, and isolation in these towns. The location allowance is varied in accordance with the Consumer Price Index for the cost of living, excluding housing. The location allowance payable for each town has increased and is...

The average cost of unleaded petrol is set to increase by 20 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 3 July 2018, most Caltex Woolworths, Caltex, Puma, BP and Coles Express sites are increasing their ULP price to 159.9 cpl (an increase of between 22 cpl and 27 cpl). All 7-Eleven sites...