Office of Fair Trading – Hervey Bay

We aim to deliver a fair and safe marketplace for Queensland consumers and businesses. To do this, we provide several key Fair Trading services.

• Clarifying your rights when it comes to refunds, warranties and buying at auctions.
• Conciliating between consumers and businesses to resolve complaints, though we recommend you try to sort out the problem with the business first.
• Investigating possible breaches of fair trading legislation and, when appropriate, we take enforcement action.
• Helping you identify common scams, keep you up to date with recent scams and encourage scam reports so we can alert others.
• Providing consumer advice on credit traps, credit cards, payday lending, going guarantor and who to contact when you are struggling financially.
• When buying second-hand cars, bikes, caravans or boats.  Use our REVS service before buying a second-hand vehicle or boat. For less than $20, a REVS check tells you if any money is still owing on the vehicle or boat. If you buy without checking, the vehicle or boat could be repossessed.
• Providing consumer advice and information about residential real estate, units in large complexes, retirement village homes, manufactured (mobile) homes and supported accommodation services, such as boarding houses, aged care facilities or hostels.
• Administering and maintaining a database of all Queensland-registered business names.
• Issuing licences to people who work in a range of industries. Licensing safeguards consumers and helps ensure professionalism.
• Providing and enforcing product safety standards for household goods, toys, electrical goods and appliances through bans, recalls and warnings.
• Helping you form an incorporated association or cooperative. We also keep a list of all registered incorporated associations and cooperatives for public access.
• Registering and auditing charities and fundraising activities. We also keep a list of all registered charities for public access.