Policy
Engaged in multiple sectors, our team conducts rigorous consumer and policy research to uncover market failures and consumer harm. We actively collaborate with partners, leveraging national and international perspectives to identify and understand issues within markets. By openly sharing insights, we contribute to the creation of impactful policy solutions, fostering momentum for positive change and advocating for consumer welfare.
June 2, 2022
CPRC welcomes the AER’s Consumer Vulnerability strategy and supports the outcomes suggested. In our submission, CPRC outlines a range of recommendations regarding proposed actions and additional actions, including a “consumer duty” to consumers and industry education program around vulnerability, for the AER to develop consumer facing service quality information, to automate the validation of concessions, and consider safe defaults for low-income consumers.
April 20, 2020
To assist the review, we enclose several CPRC reports that are relevant to the questions being explored by the Commission in its Competitiveness Review, and provide a summary of key relevant findings from our published and forthcoming research. We would be happy to discuss this research further with the Commission.
November 25, 2022
The current consumer protection framework is not fit for purpose to support consumers with distributed energy resources (DER). The regulatory framework should center consumer outcomes to ensure that as novel products and services are introduced consumers have strong protections in place.
February 3, 2023
Improving the energy efficiency of Australia’s residential buildings will deliver three clear benefits. It will contribute to meeting Australia’s commitments to Paris Agreement, improve the comfort and health of residents and reduce households’ energy bills. In this submission CPRC provided data on the barriers and enablers to adoption of energy efficiency upgrades in residential properties. We surveyed 2000 Australians in September-October 2022 in a nationally representative survey. This submission provides a summary of the outcomes of previous research on consumers and energy across Australia.
February 15, 2023
In this joint submission with Combined Pensioners & Superannuants Association (CPSA), Consumer Action Law Centre (CALC), Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC), Financial Counselling Australia (FCA), Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) and Tenants’ Union of NSW (TU). Consumer advocates highlighted that this is a timely opportunity to rethink and redesign our energy frameworks and protections to better promote the interests and meet the needs of all consumers. As the energy system rapidly transitions to become more complex, sustainable and smarter the frameworks and protections must be reformed to ensure people have access to energy, energy products and energy services.
February 21, 2023
Consumer protections for the provision of distributed or consumer energy resources should be consistent with broader protections for energy consumers under the National Energy Consumer Framework (NECF). Consumer protections should be required regardless of what type of energy service is being provided. Energy supply is essential and anything that has the potential to interfere in or affect that supply of energy to a home needs to be regulated under the NECF. CPRCs submission focuses on issues related to consumer protections related to this issue as asked by the AEMC in the consultation paper.
