Consumer Affairs Victoria’s Annual Report for 2020-21 shows our focus on supporting the Victorian community and economy through the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and promoting Victoria’s social and economic recovery.
Highlights include supporting renters and rental providers by delivering services under the Residential Tenancies Dispute Resolution Scheme (RTDRS) together with the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria to help tens of thousands of Victorians reach agreements on reduced rent and access various relief schemes.
In 2020-21, we:
- introduced more than 130 reforms to Victoria’s rental laws, which came into effect from 29 March 2021 and create a safer and fairer rental market for Victorian renters and rental providers
- supported safe and secure housing for rooming house residents, including on-site inspections to check compliance with safety standards and to promote COVIDSafe environments in rooming houses
- supported businesses with licence and registration fee waivers and refunds; gave extensions of time for some businesses and organisations to meet their lodgement requirements, and simplified fundraiser obligations
- continued to respond to risks of serious harm or wrongdoing by initiating a range of enforcement actions against businesses for unfair practices across our regulated industries
- responded to Victorian community concerns about underquoting and trust account defalcations by identifying and responding to misconduct by estate agents
- worked to deliver the Professional Engineers Registration Scheme on 1 July 2021. This new registration scheme gives Victorians greater confidence by ensuring only suitably qualified and experienced engineers provide professional engineering services
- and finalised the transition of 105 employees to the GovHub in Ballarat.
For more information, view our Annual Report 2020-21.