The Turnbull Government’s 1000-day disregard for the out of control pay-day loan industry is contemptible.

It is now 1,077 days since the government pledged to review the Small Amount Credit Contract (SACC) laws. But since then, nothing has been done to protect vulnerable Australian families.

Despite the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister for Revenue and Finance both pledging support for the 24 recommendations from the SACC review we have yet to see any Government action.

In the meantime, households are forced into payday loans and face skyrocketing fees and interest rates as high as 884 per cent.

Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs Madeleine King MP and Federal Member for Oxley Milton Dick MP said that the Liberals had a disgraceful record in failing to help consumers who are being taken advantage of by pay day loan sharks.

A review commissioned by the Consumer Action Law Centre found that the number of Australian households with a pay day loan had almost doubled over the past 10 years to sit at approximately 650,000.

This report also found that the average number of loans per borrower had jumped 45% in the past five years to 3.64.

On 26 February earlier this year Federal Labor introduced a Private Member’s Bill to reform payday lending and rent-to-buy laws after it became clear the Government wanted to sweep the issue under the rug.

This Bill was debated in the Federation Chamber on 26 March, however the Turnbull Government again demonstrated its contempt of vulnerable consumers when not a single Liberal or National MP bothered to turn up to debate the SACC Reform Bill.

The Bill was a word-for-word copy of the Government’s own exposure draft of legislation to reform payday loans and rent-to-buy schemes, which they released last year. 

Labor calls on the Government to bring forward this important piece of legislation to the house so that it may be implemented to protect the 1.8 million financially distressed Australian households who may be forced into a pay day loan.