Your rights when dealing with airlines
The diversity of airlines and travel options means that more people than ever in history now fly commercially either for work or leisure. Experiences of airline travel vary – well they do for me at least. Sometimes it is a pleasant (or at least not terrible) experience with enjoyable in-flight entertainment, a polite person seated alongside (or even better a vacant seat), no turbulence, and seamless transitions from the terminal to aircraft, and successfully ending with baggage collection. Other times some of those elements fail, resulting in a less than enjoyable experience, or worse, an accident. As a customer of airline services, it is important you are aware of your rights and how to assert them. This applies to minor issues such as finding out who to complaint to when your baggage is lost, to very serious instances relating to the airlines’ liability for injury or loss of life.
How you’re covered under the law
The principle law regulating airlines’ responsibilities to passengers in Australia is the Civil Aviation (Carriers’ Liability) Act 1959 (Cth) which, for international travel, gives effect to the international Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (“The 1999 Montreal Convention”). It also controls airline responsibility for domestic flights.
This legislation sets out when an airline (called a carrier) is liable for:
♦ the death of a passenger;
♦ any injury suffered by you as a passenger;
♦ and the destruction, loss, or injury of your baggage.
However, there may also be circumstances when you might have an issue with an airline’s service that doesn’t necessarily fall under the legislation.
This could involve:
♦ flight delays or cancellations;
♦ telephone or internet reservations;
♦ customer service at the airport or inflight;
♦ baggage services;
♦ fees and charges;
♦ safety and security;
♦ airport lounge facilities;
♦ frequent flyer program terms and conditions;
♦ discrimination,
♦ services for customers with specific needs;
♦ and requests for refunds.
In such cases, we generally recommend passengers make a complaint directly to the airline, at the time of the issue or incident, if possible.
How to make a complaint
All Australian airlines have information on how to deal with disputes in their ‘Customer Charter’ or similar document. The customer charter is an outline of the airline’s commitment to the customer and should be found on their website. Most accept complaints or feedback in the ‘contact us’ section of their website. If your complaint is unresolved after: you have already tried to resolve your complaint directly with the airline; you have sought a review of the response; you have allowed for the timeframes specified in the customer charter; and the complaint is related to an event or circumstances that occurred within the last 12 months, you can lodge a complaint with the Airline Customer Advocate.
This is an industry based scheme to facilitate the resolution of complaints from customers about airline service provided by the participating Australian airlines (Jetstar, Qantas, Rex, Tiger, Virgin Australia). Once the Airline Customer Advocate receives your complaint they will review it and follow up with you if they need to clarify any details. They will then assign your complaint to a case manager at the airline concerned. The case manager may contact you to attempt to resolve the complaint directly with you but they have a responsibility to prepare a written response to you that will first be reviewed by the Airline Customer Advocate. You will receive a response within 20 working days.
Still not satisfied?
If you are not satisfied with the outcome, the Airline Customer Advocate will advise you about alternative avenues for dispute resolution. This is a useful avenue for passengers to adopt when they feel underwhelmed with their airline’s service, or feel unfairly treated. There is a lot that can be done by way of “self-help” without involving a lawyer, when dealing with an airline.
The Legal Eagle would like to thank our supersonic advocate and lawyer Joseph Wheeler for this piece.
For further guidance, drop him a line at Australia’s Air & Space Lawyers (IALPG): enquiries@ialpg.com.

*These days there seems to be nothing more morbid than the death industry.

Whether it’s those pesky TV ads for funeral insurance, the questionable practices of the few companies that control the funeral industry, or the sheer hide of utility and telcos in charging grieving relatives to have a deceased relatives name removed from a household bill, it all seems geared at taking advantage of worried or fragile people.
Woody Allen’s character in the 1975 movie Love and Death has a sanguine approach to the end of our days. “The key here, I think, is to not think of death as an end, but think of it more as a very effective way of cutting down on your expenses.” And so indeed it should.

 However today’s world prepares us for death with a completely different philosophy. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin’s age old saying, “that in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”, should be reconfigured to include the additional certainty of “ridiculous death expenses”.

Today’s Funeral Industry
Gone are the days where local ‘mum and dad’ funeral businesses could be relied on in the event of the passing of a loved one. These days, the funeral industry in Australia is dominated by just a few big players that own the lion’s share of most of the recognisable names in the funeral biz. The industry in Australia is dominated by one listed company, InvoCare. You may not know of Invocare, but you will certainly have heard of its brand names like Gregory & Carr Funerals, Boland Funerals, White Lady Funerals, Metro Funerals and Simplicity Funerals. Invocare reportedly controls up to 80% of the funeral market on the east coast of Australia. InvoCare’s former chief executive officer Andrew Smith described pricing in the industry as “inelastic” – because only 15% of us are inclined to shop around when someone dies.

In a 2017 article on the funeral industry in 2017 on the website The Conversation, two factors contributed to difference in the overall price of a funeral- whether the funeral was provided by one of the brands owned by the large listed corporation and whether the operator had prices online. The finding was clear that if an operator did advertise prices online, consumers were likely to save somewhere between $1000 and $1500 for the same product. However, the problem is that most well-known funeral brands and consequently most of the market in Australia, didn’t provide prices online.

Any Regulation?
The ‘basic funeral’ is regulated in NSW and Victoria which in essence means that funeral providers have to offer this product and give a breakdown to interested consumers of each item provided in the service.
For example, in Victoria the legislation (Funerals Act 2006) states that: A funeral goods and services price list— (a) must include a description and total price of the funeral goods and funeral services offered by the funeral provider; and (b) must include a list of any service fees that may be charged by the funeral provider; and (c) must reflect the maximum price that a funeral provider charges for the funeral goods and funeral services; and (d) in relation to the basic funeral service offered by the funeral provider, must contain— (i) a description of what is included in that service; and (ii) the total price of that service. (3) A funeral goods and services price list must either— (a) contain the full range, description and price of all coffins available for purchase; or (b) include a price range for the coffins available for purchase and advise that a coffin price list is available. Unfortunately, such basic prices never include the expensive and emotional inclusions like flowers, limo cars and death advertisements.

Whether you’re an executor organising the funeral, or a family member, set yourself a budget for these items. For those who wish to move beyond the ‘basic’ packages, the emotive decision that often comes with the picking of a coffin can be fatal for the hip pocket, with reports of big mark-ups on a wholesale price of a coffins and caskets between 300% and 500%.
Consumers wishing to avoid these costs may wish to take note of the fact that under the Australian State Burial and Cremation Acts & Regulations, there is no legal reason prohibiting the use of cardboard coffins (or caskets) for funerals, whether burials or cremations, anywhere in Australia except of course that they must be sturdy enough to contain the body. One company in Australia, with the apt name “Leaving Lightly”, actually specialises in making these types of coffins. Why not buy one in advance, leaving instructions with your executor for it to be used at your funeral.

Fair Trading?
At the end of the day, funeral companies are providing just another service, and as such the Australian Consumer Law and the rules relating to fair trading in this country apply to funeral services and products. This allows you an avenue of recourse when things go pear shaped. A great example of this is the code of conduct established by the Office of Fair Trading in cooperation with the Queensland funeral industry. The Code provides a guiding principle of ethical and responsible behaviour which recognises the importance of clients’ wellbeing with a focus on minimising the potential harm that can arise from using an unscrupulous provider. Complaints of problems can be made directly to the Office of Fair Trading. And this avenue could also be used Australia wide, even when no code exists.

Arranging a funeral shouldn’t be a death defying maze of confusion and emotional persausion/blackmail. Whether you’re planning ahead for your own funeral or you’re an executor or next of kin, set a budget, shop around and look for transparency when it comes to prices.

Funeral Insurance
Finally, if you’re looking at taking funeral insurance think about the two following things when it comes to finding the very best insurance provider:
Consider their reputation
It is no secret that much of an insurance companies success is built on the reputation that is built from their past clients. Applicants should take the time to read up on the company and the experience that other people have had with them in the past. Consumer forums and review websites can also be handy here.
Am I Going to End Up Paying More in the Long Run?
It is crucial that all applicants assess what they are actually going to end up paying in premium payments over the life of their policy.  Some policies will only require the policyholder to pay premium payments until they have reached the sum-insured, ensuring no more is paid then the insured would have paid in the first place.
It is of utmost importance to determine how much you could potentially end up paying over the life of the policy and if possible find a policy that will cap premium payments once they have reached the sum-insured.

With the coming of each new year, it is heralded around the land by scribes in the press and much concerned friends, that it’s time to make our annual pilgrimage to the bottomless well of New Year’s resolutions. That’s why we have the month of January, named after Janus, the god of new beginnings.

Lose weight? Travel more? Quit smoking? Get a six pack? Stop eating fast food? Stop judging people? Stop farting? Learn a foreign language? Budget and save more? Stop procrastinating? Stop something that rhymes with procrastinating?

Those self improvement “to do’s” we make may look motivating as post-its stuck all over our bathroom mirror but by mid month, they and our post-its have usually exceeded their half-life and fallen back to earth.

And think about it, if all these resolutions we set for ourselves were actually achieved, imagine the sheer pandemonium it would create. Endless queues outside of gyms, one size clothing for all, a planet devoid of miserable bastards, and the death of lifestyle blogs to tell us what to do. Ouch! That last one hurt.

However, the reality is that resolutions roll on and resurface every December with a vengeance and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Or is there?

Well, if there was one thing that I could suggest you start doing, and it really doesn’t take up much time, is to start incorporating a small amount of meditation in your mornings before you start your day.

[Author immediately glances sideways at readers heading towards the exit] No, no, come back!

This is not some ‘new age’ hippie or religious stuff I’m pushing here. It’s actually quiet simple and doesn’t require you to join a buddhist monastery.

The 10 minute “Breath Counting” Meditation
This is a great 10 minute morning meditation devised by an American medico, Dr Andrew Weil. He’s been an expert in this area for years so if you feel a little suspicious with a lawyer like myself prescribing meditation, trust Andrew.

It’s a simple technique much used in Zen practice. After waking, do what you have to do in the bathroom, wash your face and stay in your loose fitting PJs.

Then Andrew suggests you:

Sit in a comfortable position with the spine straight and head inclined slightly forward. (A chair is fine, you don’t have to be cross legged on the floor.)

Gently close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then let the breath come naturally without trying to influence it.

Ideally it will be quiet and slow, but depth and rhythm may vary.

To begin the exercise, count “one” to yourself as you exhale.

The next time you exhale, count “two,” and so on up to “five.”

Then begin a new cycle, counting “one” on the next exhalation.

Never count higher than “five,” and count only when you exhale.

You will know your attention has wandered when you find yourself up to “eight,” “12,” even “19.”

If you start experiencing that annoying mind chatter, as we all do, just refocus on the breath and the counting.

Try to do 10 minutes of this form of meditation in the morning before your ‘other day’ begins.

Don’t waste time convincing yourself that it can’t apply to a busy dynamo like yourself.

For heaven’s sake… Just do it.

I hope we have an understanding? Good, because in the words of the great Cavett Robert:

“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.”

And what I surely want for you in the New Year is not a resolutions list that is going to be unachievable and end up in the bin, but instead, a little meditation that will lead to you – being happier, having less anxiety, being more creative, having lower blood pressure and boosting your learning ability.

Have a great New Year and thanks for supporting The Legal Eagle in 2017!