In a fast-changing economy, consumer trust isn't just a virtue - it's a necessity.

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Whether you're buying a fridge, downloading an app, or applying for a mortgage, you're taking a leap of faith that the product will do what it claims, the terms will be fair, and someone will listen if things go wrong.

Trust is the invisible infrastructure of the modern marketplace. Strip it away, and what remains is a minefield of confusion, caution and exploitation. When people stop believing the system works for them, they disengage. And when bad actors go unchallenged, good businesses suffer, too.

Australia has made real strides in building trust through strong consumer protection.

The Australian Consumer Law, introduced in 2011, brought together a tangle of federal, state and territory rules into a single national framework.

Since then, protections have expanded - unfair contract terms are now banned, consumer guarantees are better enforced, and regulators have more tools to hold businesses to account.

But markets don't stand still. And nor can our laws.

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Today, technology has transformed the way we live and shop. Global platforms dominate online commerce. Artificial intelligence increasingly determines what ads we see, what prices we're offered, even which products we're shown in the first place. With these advances come opportunities - but also new risks.

AI, for all its potential, raises serious questions for consumer protection. What happens when a chatbot gives dangerously wrong advice? When a recommendation algorithm steers vulnerable users toward harmful content? Or when a company uses machine learning to nudge people into purchases they later regret?

That's why the Australian government is working to ensure our legal frameworks keep pace with our technological ones. We're reviewing how AI-enabled products and........

© Canberra Times