❓ Hon Peter Collier, on behalf of Hon Nick Goiran, inquires about the role of Consumer Protection in retirement village disputes, specifically regarding conciliation and mediation. The Minister provides details on the processes and guidelines used to determine which approach is taken.
AnsweredQoN 298Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
CONSUMER PROTECTION —
RETIREMENT VILLAGE DISPUTES
298. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the minister representing the Minister for Commerce:
I ask this question on behalf of Hon
Nick Goiran who is away on urgent parliamentary business.
I refer to the role of the
Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety's Consumer
Protection division in disputes arising from retirement villages.
(1) Does this role involve conciliation?
(2) Does this role involve
mediation?
(3) Are there
certain circumstances when the department will determine to proceed with
conciliation rather than mediation?
(4) If yes to
(3), what guidelines exist to aid such determinations?
(5) Will the minister
table those guidelines or similar documents?
RETIREMENT VILLAGE DISPUTES
298. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the minister representing the Minister for Commerce:
I ask this question on behalf of Hon
Nick Goiran who is away on urgent parliamentary business.
I refer to the role of the
Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety's Consumer
Protection division in disputes arising from retirement villages.
(1) Does this role involve conciliation?
(2) Does this role involve
mediation?
(3) Are there
certain circumstances when the department will determine to proceed with
conciliation rather than mediation?
(4) If yes to
(3), what guidelines exist to aid such determinations?
(5) Will the minister
table those guidelines or similar documents?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. On behalf of the
Minister for Regional Development representing the Minister for
Commerce, I provide the following answer, which was true as of Tuesday, 24
March.
(1) Yes.
Conciliation is a process of finding an individual and optimal solution to a dispute,
with the consumer protection officer playing a direct role to guide the parties
to a resolution.
(2) Yes. Mediation
is a process by which an independent mediator approved by the Commissioner for
Consumer Protection assists parties in dispute to achieve a resolution.
(3) Yes. When an
application for mediation is received that involves evidence of a breach of
legislation, that application is likely to be sent to conciliation, which would
allow for that matter to be reviewed in relation to compliance with the relevant legal requirement and regulatory action
to be taken by Consumer Protection if required.
(4) Consumer
Protection provides a guide to applications for mediation that advises the
grounds upon which an application for mediation may be determined. In summary,
this includes when no attempt has been made to resolve the dispute using the
village dispute process established under the WA Fair Trading (Retirement
Villages Interim Code) Regulations 2019, when both parties to a dispute are
willing to be engaged in a mediation process, and when there is no evidence of
breach of the legislation.
(5) Yes. The
documents are available to the public on the Consumer Protection website at
www.commerce.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/atoms/files/mediation_application_guide.pdf.
thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. On behalf of the
Minister for Regional Development representing the Minister for
Commerce, I provide the following answer, which was true as of Tuesday, 24
March.
(1) Yes.
Conciliation is a process of finding an individual and optimal solution to a dispute,
with the consumer protection officer playing a direct role to guide the parties
to a resolution.
(2) Yes. Mediation
is a process by which an independent mediator approved by the Commissioner for
Consumer Protection assists parties in dispute to achieve a resolution.
(3) Yes. When an
application for mediation is received that involves evidence of a breach of
legislation, that application is likely to be sent to conciliation, which would
allow for that matter to be reviewed in relation to compliance with the relevant legal requirement and regulatory action
to be taken by Consumer Protection if required.
(4) Consumer
Protection provides a guide to applications for mediation that advises the
grounds upon which an application for mediation may be determined. In summary,
this includes when no attempt has been made to resolve the dispute using the
village dispute process established under the WA Fair Trading (Retirement
Villages Interim Code) Regulations 2019, when both parties to a dispute are
willing to be engaged in a mediation process, and when there is no evidence of
breach of the legislation.
(5) Yes. The
documents are available to the public on the Consumer Protection website at
www.commerce.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/atoms/files/mediation_application_guide.pdf.
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