Qld to crack down on dodgy tattooists, removalists and funeral parlours

Queensland’s fair trade regulator is cracking down on dodgy car dealerships, removalists, tattooists, and funeral parlours.

The Office of Fair Trading is switching its focus to those sectors and others through to 2023, after nearly 2700 compliance checks on businesses in the past financial year.

Of those, more than 250 were referred for investigation and more than 20 infringements were doled out, along with 105 official warnings and 35 compliance advice letters, Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said.

“Importantly, Fair Trading will be focused on unlicensed motor dealers, the licensing and behaviour of security guards, and illegal tactics used by some real estate agents,” she said.

“Conducting spot checks on businesses using illegal bait advertising techniques, particularly in the removalist services industry and online retailers, will also be a priority.”

Dangerous products will also come under the office’s spotlight, given that new safety requirements for button batteries have kicked in, Fentiman said.

New funeral pricing transparency laws came into effect on July 1.

Tattooists will be a focus for the office this year, after recent checks of 44 practitioners led to half of them being referred for investigation over possible legal breaches, Fentiman said.

Another operation identified 18 second-hand dealers over potential breaches, with 15 referred for investigation.