Business & Finance Revision

Flashcards covering consumer rights, business structures, and employment types based on the lecture notes.

Consumer rights

Legal protections designed to ensure fair trade, accurate information, and safe products for buyers.

Australian Consumer Law (ACL)

The primary legislation in Australia under which consumer rights are protected.

Consumer Guarantees

Automatic, baseline legal rights that protect you when you buy products or services in Australia.

Right to safety

A fundamental consumer right that protects consumers against products, production methods, and services that are hazardous to health, life, or property.

Consumer warranty rights

Automatic legal protections guaranteeing that products will be safe, last a reasonable time, and work exactly as described.

Refunds & Exchanges

A legal entitlement to a full refund or exchange if a product has a major fault; it cannot be claimed simply for a change of mind.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

Australia's national competition, consumer protection, fair trading, and product safety regulator.

Competition and Consumer Act 2010

The act enforced by the ACCC to ensure markets operate fairly, prevent misleading conduct, and protect consumers and small businesses.

ACCC actions against Optus

A high-profile case regarding unconscionable conduct and inappropriate sales practices between $2019$ and $2023$, with court-approved orders in September $2025$.

Sole Trader

A business structure where one individual owns and operates the entire business, making them fully responsible for all decisions, profits, and debts.

Partnership

A business structure where two or more people run a business together, sharing ownership, responsibilities, profits, and debt with unlimited liability.

Trust

A legal business structure in which a trustee manages assets or property on behalf of beneficiaries following the instructions of a settler.

Trustee

A person or organisation that manages assets or property within a trust on behalf of others.

Beneficiaries

The people on whose behalf assets or property are managed and distributed within a trust.

Settler

The person who creates a trust and provides the instructions for how assets are to be managed and distributed.

Limited Company

A business that is legally separate from its owners (shareholders), providing limited liability for personal assets.

Permanent Employment

A type of employment where an employee works for an employer on an ongoing basis without a fixed end date.

Penalty rates

Higher rates of pay received by employees for working during less desirable hours, such as weekends, public holidays, late nights, or early mornings.

Superannuation

A retirement savings system in Australia where employers contribute money into a worker's super fund.

Trade Union

An organisation that represents workers to protect and improve their rights, pay, working conditions, and benefits.

Collective bargaining

A benefit of trade unions that gives workers a stronger voice when negotiating with employers.