In spite of amendments to the Australian Consumer Law being flagged by the Consumer Affairs Forum (all the legislators) in October 2018, nothing has happened.

In August 2019 they finally capitulated to the growing calls for corporate rogues to be penalised if they fail to provide a remedy for non-compliance with the consumer guarantees, and have ordered a 'regulatory impact assessment'. I am still not holding my breath for these vital amendments to be endorsed. However, without any penalty, there is no incentive to comply.

The Australian Consumer Law consumer guarantee regime is fundamentally flawed, and is biased in favour of traders, not consumers. This was intentional from the very beginning. Only action by the ACCC has brought any of them into line, and mostly only for smaller value goods. Those of us with lemon vehicles are still suffering at the hands of the rogues.

The regulators have known this for years and yet, in spite of the mounting toll of personal damage to consumers and their families, have done very little, especially for owners of lemon recreational vehicles such as caravans, camper trailers and motor homes. The ACCC has steadfastly refused to enforce court enforceable undertakings and therefore, for the rogues in the new vehicle retailing industry, it has been business as usual. Fob off consumers to take risky, lengthy and expensive legal action in front of tribunal members and judges who have no clue on the proper application of the law, and are very often biased against the consumer. This is a sad fact.

Let's put this issue back on the agenda for immediate action. We can't wait more years before consumer protection legislation actually protects consumers. The toll is far too high.