Gold Coast businesses get smart on fair trading
Posted by editor (editor) on Nov 19 2009
2009 >>

Gold Coast business owners are invited to attend a fair trading information seminar tonight [17 Nov] about how to successfully expand their enterprise the right way.

Fair Trading Minister Peter Lawlor said the Gold Coast Office of Fair Trading’s free ‘Fair Business’ session helped local traders ensure they knew their business rights and obligations under Queensland legislation.

The information session at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), 7 Short Street, Southport from 6pm to 7.30pm covers consumer protection and awareness, business registration and licensing, as well as compliance and investigation.

It is the last of eight ‘Fair Business’ sessions run in previous months by the Gold Coast Office.

“In the session, Senior Fair Trading Officer Jacqui Pascoe talks about how businesses can make sure they are not only doing everything above board, but are also protecting themselves and their business,” Mr Lawlor said.

“Jacqui will go through registering your business name, advertising your goods and services, understanding refund rights and responsibilities, turning complaints into compliments and protecting your business from scams.

“For example, many people these days are doing marketing and advertising online and it’s important to make sure you accurately describe the business and don’t exaggerate your products or mislead buyers.

“Business owners must also know what they can and can’t do when customers want to return goods, and how they can deal with, and learn from, complaints to make their business better in the long run.”

In the past 12 months, the OFT received around 9,500 complaints, 1200 of those relating to businesses on the Gold Coast.

Mr Lawlor said a wide variety of traders had already attended one of the ‘Fair Business’ sessions including many start-up businesses.

“There’s a lot to consider when starting out in any type of business and the ‘Fair Business’ session covers some of those common issues and questions,” he said.

Mr Lawlor said the Gold Coast Office of Fair Trading registered around 5,500 businesses per year at its front counter.

It is the largest of eight OFT regional offices located throughout Queensland.

Mr Lawlor said the ‘Fair Business’ session also covered general business development topics such as business planning.

Last changed: Nov 19 2009 at 10:19 AM