Amy Bainbridge is the ABC's Consumer Affairs Reporter. Amy started as a trainee Rural Reporter with the ABC, before working in general news and as a political reporter in Canberra. In 2007, she left the ABC for a stint in commercial television, and then worked in Beijing for two years for China Central Television. Amy returned to Australia and joined ABC News Breakfast first as a producer, and then as the back-up sports presenter. She had a stint reporting in the Sydney newsroom and for Lateline, before returning to the Melbourne in 2012. In 2013, Amy reported from Indonesia as the winner of the Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award. Amy has been a commentator at three Paralympic Games for the International Paralympic Committee. She has a Master of Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies from the ANU and is a qualified fitness instructor.
You can follow Amy on twitter: @amy_bainbridge
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Industry Super Australia has legal advice showing the Federal Government's planned changes to laws governing financial advice may not be lawful.
The Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation took force in July last year, but the Coalition had announced plans to roll back elements of the laws.
Many of the changes would overturn reforms introduced in the wake of the Storm Financial collapse, in which some investors lost their life savings because of conflicted financial advice.
However, ISA's legal advice suggests a Government attempt to roll back some of the FoFA changes through regulation may be invalid, with financial advisers relying on the changes potentially exposed to legal action from clients.
Topics: regulation, business-economics-and-finance, australia
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The public is being asked to have a say on proposals to overhaul the way energy companies charge consumers.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, business-economics-and-finance, consumer-protection, australia
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A new website launched this week, with detailed information on Australia's new front-of-pack labelling system for food and beverages, disappeared less than 24 hours after it was launched.
Topics: health-policy, health, food-and-beverage, industry, business-economics-and-finance, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
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The ANZ bank may be liable to pay its customers "tens of millions of dollars", according to the law firm that led a successful class action against the bank over its fees.
The Federal Court today handed a partial victory to ANZ customers who joined in a class action to recoup $57 million in fees.
The court ruled that the late payment fees the bank charged customers were extravagant, exorbitant and unconscionable.
But Justice Michele Gordon said that other fees the bank charged, including honour and dishonour fees, and over-limit fees on credit cards, were reasonable.
Andrew Watson, from Maurice Blackburn, says while establishing the amount owed to affected customers would take weeks, he expected to stretch into the "tens of millions of dollars".
He said the ruling also opened the way for customers of other banks to claim unfair treatment on fees.
Topics: banking, industry, business-economics-and-finance, courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, australia
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The real-world use of virtual currency is catching on with Australian businesses, despite criticism the system is too unreliable..
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, currency, computers-and-technology, science-and-technology, internet-culture, internet-technology, melbourne-3000, vic, australia
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On the 50th anniversary of a landmark report linking smoking to cancer, a new report shows one in 10 smokers does not believe smoking causes illness.
Topics: smoking, health, united-states
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The Telecommunications Ombudsman says mobile phone sector reforms are significantly decreasing the number of disputes the office receives about bills.
Topics: telecommunications, industry, business-economics-and-finance, regulation, australia
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A father inspired by time spent in hospital with his terminally ill daughter has invented a computer system to help hospital staff cut down on paperwork.
Smart Ward uses touch screens and smartchips in lanyards and wristbands to update patient information in real time, and has yielded impressive results at two hospitals in Melbourne.
The system is the brainchild of Canberra tech guru Matt Darling, who developed it in the wake of his daughter Jem's death.
He says there were a number of times when his daughter needed acute care and he believed he could pinpoint where the existing system was failing staff.
"When you go through that sort of experience you need to cling onto the idea that something positive can come from it, and that's really important," Mr Darling told the ABC.
Topics: health-administration, health, science-and-technology, healthcare-facilities, computers-and-technology, melbourne-3000, vic, australia, act
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The consumer watchdog is warning people not to fall victim to a parcel delivery scam whereby home owners are contacted about an "unsuccessful delivery" and asked to pay a fee for the item.
Topics: consumer-protection, fraud-and-corporate-crime, law-crime-and-justice, australia
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The daily discount website Scoopon has been ordered to pay penalties of $1 million for misleading customers and businesses.
Topics: consumer-protection, business-economics-and-finance, retail, industry, australia
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Most Australian adults are unhappy with fast food chains sponsoring children's sport, new research shows.
Topics: sport, health, obesity, children, diet-and-nutrition, australia
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has begun Federal Court proceedings against NSK Australia over the supply of ball and roller bearings for vehicles.
Topics: consumer-protection, business-economics-and-finance, manufacturing, australia
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Federal Court documents show the ANZ bank knew as far back as 2006 that it would need to adjust the fees it charged customers, or risk being exposed to legal action and growing consumer anger.
The internal ANZ documents, which include emails and board meeting minutes, were obtained by lawyers representing the claimants of the biggest class action in legal history.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn is representing 38,000 customers who are disputing the fees they were charged over a seven-year period.
The court documents show the bank raked in millions of dollars from fees it knew it could be forced to ditch.
At a September meeting, bank bosses acknowledged that fees had become a major focus for "media, lobby groups and politicians", and predicted that the bank's bottom line would take a hit if they had to be ditched.
Topics: banking, industry, business-economics-and-finance, courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, australia
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The consumer watchdog has launched Federal Court action against companies it alleges participated in cartel activity while selling well-known laundry products.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, consumer-protection, retail, law-crime-and-justice, australia
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Australia's domestic car market remains one of the most competitive in the world and Holden must adapt quickly if it plans to maintain a presence here, analysts say.
Topics: manufacturing, industry, business-economics-and-finance, automotive, australia
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The peak body representing independent service stations says a move by the major supermarkets to cap fuel discounting is only one step towards creating an even playing field.
Topics: retail, industry, oil-and-gas, small-business, regulation, australia
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has won a case against Flight Centre over attempts of price fixing with major airlines.
Topics: air-transport, industry, courts-and-trials, australia
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The nation's two major supermarkets Coles and Woolworths have agreed to stop heavy fuel discounting, following concerns about fuel shopper dockets.
Topics: retail, oil-and-gas, small-business, regulation, australia, nt
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The Australian Food and Grocery Council says it remains committed to a front-of-pack labelling scheme, despite allegations it is trying to back away from a system agreed to earlier this year.
Topics: health, diet-and-nutrition, food-and-beverage, food-and-cooking, industry, australia
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Law firm Maurice Blackburn has produced a range of documents obtained from the ANZ bank, which it says shows the bank was using unfair customer fees to prop up its profits.
Topics: banking, business-economics-and-finance, courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, melbourne-3000, australia
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The largest consumer class action in Australian history begins in the Federal Court in Melbourne today as 38,000 ANZ customers appeal over the bank's fees.
The court will examine whether the fees are fair, or whether they are excessive and therefore illegal.
Andrew Watson from law firm Maurice Blackburn says the fees are not an accurate reflection of the costs faced by banks when customers are caught out.
"You might be a dollar over on your account or a day late in your payment and the banks will slug you with a fee that's out of all proportion to what it costs them for that minor transgression," he said.
The case could have wider implications for other large institutions and the certainty of their contracts.
Topics: banking, courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, industry, business-economics-and-finance, melbourne-3000, australia
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Online shopping may be convenient and cost-effective, but the expertise and advice you get when a retail assistant is on top of their game can be priceless.
Topics: retail, internet-culture
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An Indian consumer group is conducting a pilot project for traffic light food labelling in a bid to fight growing levels of obesity.
Topics: health, obesity, activism-and-lobbying, business-economics-and-finance, india
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The department store's chairman tells the Government to scrap the $1,000 GST threshold on imported goods.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, company-news, consumer-finance, consumer-protection, industry, economic-trends, globalisation---economy, retail, government-and-politics, tax, australia
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A meeting of foreign ministers and officials from Asia and Europe has earmarked cyber crime as an emerging issue that needs swift action.
Topics: world-politics, computers-and-technology, crime, india, australia, asia
If you have inside knowledge of a topic in the news, contact the ABC.
