The Andrews Labor Government’s failure to clear the dispute backlog at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) is leaving Victorians out of pocket as they are denied access to restitution from buying lemon vehicles.
Speaking in Parliament today, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs Roma Britnell said the dispute backlog had reached crisis point, and that buyers of lemon vehicles weren’t receiving a timely resolution to their complaints.
“The VCAT system was set up to help people with disputes such as settling claims relating to motor vehicle purchases,” Ms Britnell said.
“There is now such a backlog at VCAT that people are waiting up to two years to get a hearing date.”
Ms Britnell added that there were more than 3,000 reports to Consumer Affairs about lemon cars last year, but the process to resolve the issues is buried beneath a pile of red tape, under funding and tribunal delays.
“This is one of the biggest issued raised with me concerning Consumer Affairs, yet the Andrews Labor Government has sat on its hands,”
“It is so important that the Andrews Labor Government looks at ways to make VCAT more accessible to ordinary Victorians, or develop an affordable, accessible and timely way for consumers to resolve disputes.”
Roma Britnell MP
Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs