Research
Our team operates across various sectors, conducting thorough consumer and policy research to pinpoint market failures and consumer harm. Using both national and international perspectives, we engage in collaborative efforts to address identified issues and share insights openly. Through partnerships and open collaboration, we work towards creating impactful changes for consumers and contribute to the development of effective policy solutions.
August 18, 2025
While residential parks offer community and security benefits for older Victorians, our research reveals significant challenges with transparency, fees, and complaint handling.
June 16, 2025
The Rank the Energy Retailer 2025 Report presents the findings from a national survey of financial counsellors in March-April 2025, about their energy casework experiences over the past 12 months. The Rank the Energy Retailer 2025 project seeks to assess the hardship practices of energy retailers in order to remove barriers to affordable energy, and the report makes a number of key recommendations.
May 13, 2025
Deceptive and manipulative design features—known as dark patterns—are embedded into websites and apps to influence our choices, often not in our best interests. From subscription traps that make cancelling nearly impossible to pre-ticked boxes that share more of our data, these subtle yet sinister practices may appear as mild annoyances individually, but their cumulative effect is costing Australians financially, compromising privacy, and degrading online experiences.
April 17, 2025
Australians of all ages are engaging with gaming to relax, learn or connect with friends, but common design features can leave players worse-off – 95% of Australian adult gamers encountering manipulative design practices in digital games, leading to financial losses and emotional distress.
December 11, 2024
Renters deserve to live in a safe, healthy and energy efficient home, yet many Victorian renters face unsafe living conditions and excessive energy costs. In collaboration with Anika Legal, Consumer Action Law Centre, this research gives a clear picture of the problems Victorian renters face, based on interviews, surveys, and case studies.
September 17, 2024
Many regulators in Australia a wealth of insights in the data they hold from consumer complaints or reports to achieve better regulatory outcomes, but often the information is not easily accessible or even made public.
August 20, 2024
Subscribing is easy. It often takes seconds of our time. Frictionless processes mean that consumers can easily sign-up to streaming services, marketplace loyalty programs, health and fitness regimes. When a consumer no longer needs nor wants that subscription service however, the experience is often the inverse.
July 24, 2024
When your mobile phone service drops out or your internet isn’t working, what do you do? For many Australians, the answer is nothing. But why? This research, commissioned by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), explores who faces challenges with telco services in Australia and what the complaint experience entails.
July 10, 2024
As the privacy reform debate continues in Australia, a familiar concern about the burden of regulation on businesses rings through various consultation processes. But in this debate, a crucial question often goes unasked: what is it costing Australians consumers?
February 27, 2024
In a collaboration with UNSW Sydney, we embarked on a research to explore the landscape of data privacy and consumer perceptions.
February 06, 2024
CPRC and Tenants Victoria conducted a mystery shop of 100 rental properties in Victoria. While many properties met the minimum standards, issues such as maintenance, visible mould, and lack of window coverings were associated with poorly maintained affordable properties
December 01, 2023
Green claims are everywhere, even on social media. But how easy is it for consumers to tell the difference between a genuine environmental claim and a meaningless one? CPRC, in partnership with ADM+S, has analysed over 20,000 impressions of more than 8,000 Facebook ads with green claims.
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