Consultation Regulation Impact Statement on Gift Card Expiry Dates
The submission to the Treasury's Consultation Regulation Impact Statement on Gift Card Expiry Dates was prepared by the Competition and Consumer Committee of the Business Law Section.
The Competition and Consumer Committee provides a forum through which lawyers can discuss competition and consumer laws affecting business, current issues and the process of law reform in Australia.
The Treasury's policy objective, as stated in the Consultation Paper, is to ensure that when a consumer purchases a gift card they can have confidence that the gift card will be available for use for a reasonable period of time, while balancing the impact of any reform on businesses.
The three options being considered by Treasury in respect of expiry dates for gift cards are:
- Option 1 – maintaining the status quo;
- Option 2 – prohibiting expiry dates for all gift cards;
- Option 3 – introduction of a three-year minimum expiry date requirement (Options).
While the Competition and Consumer Committee makes several specific observations in relation to each of the Options, it does not advocate any specific option, but rather takes this opportunity to make suggestions about how the federal government could address the legal uncertainties of the current national gift card framework given the recent introduction of a minimum expiry date for gift cards sold to consumers in New South Wales.
You can read the full submission below.
Last Updated on 09/05/2019